


Crimson Dream

by orphan_account



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alpha Tom, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Consorts - Freeform, Crazy plot shifts, Emperor - Freeform, F/M, Harry just can't, Limited Magic, M/M, Multi, Omega Harry, Tags May Change, Tags to be added, Weird Biology, alternative universe-Forbidden city, possible miscarriages
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-01
Updated: 2016-04-29
Packaged: 2018-05-10 21:18:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 12
Words: 24,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5601364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry Potter was never supposed to be known, he never should have been chosen. Yet he was. Sometimes he wishes he never set foot in that hall. That he never met Them and that he never knew Him. But all wishes are for naught when one belonged to Him-the son of heaven.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first exercise in writing. I have never finished a story before, but i want to try my hand at this. Sorry for my mistakes (as I'm sure there're many), but I don't have a beta. So if Anyone is interested in Being my beta, please let me know! With that said, enjoy the story.

                                                                                                    Chapter One  
Floating on the river were numerous paper boats with written wishes. They varied in size, color and intent, and this accurately described their owners. A crowd of teenagers ranging in age and gender stood side by side awaiting their fate. Few of these people would grow to become famous, respected, even worshiped. Some will become enemies and outlaws of the land. And yet still, most will be anonymous, unknown and unheard. But before that, they need to pass the selection today.

In this sea of teenagers is one Harry Potter, the son of the Minister of defense and his lowest ranking yet most beloved concubine, Lily Potter. Due to his mother’s background as a commoner and concubine, Harry is the least favored of his father’s children. In addition to his lack of political backing, he also lacks physical strength, and has been sickly since birth.

However due to his father’s love for his mother, Harry is not completely shunned in his family. Hence, why he is standing among the teenagers gathered in the palace of Eternal Knowledge in the forbidden city. A palace modeled after a famed palace of the same name by earlier predecessors in eastern part of the world eons ago.

The selection process started three months ago, and today is the final selection. He remembers the exact moment his father received a missive from the imperial palace proclaiming the Emperor’s desire for concubines. He had just turned fifteen three days prior to the reception of the letter. His father’s solemn countenance was an indication that the request was not to be denied. 

When Harry initially reached the entrance of the forbidden city and saw a multitude of carriages and palanquins being guided into the palace, he was instantly nervous.

His palanquin joined the queue and eventually, was ushered into the entrance. He was helped out by a palace maid and almost went back inside from fright. 

The girls and boys waiting with him were incredibly beautiful and well dressed.

The clothing he was wearing was one of the three silk robes he owned, and he was willing to bet that these people practically bathed in silk. He swallowed the feelings of inadequacy emerging from within and relaxed his facial features, channeling his usual calm and quiet nature.

He took a spot by a lone flower to the left and waited until the gugus ( _senior maid servants_ ) came to take them to the waiting area.  

“Light and Dark military banners line up accordingly,” they were told by one of the gugus.

 He left the corner and joined the girls and boys standing under the light military banner. He had passed numerous selections in which they were observed by the gugus.

This was the audition in which they would be personally observed and interviewed by the emperor/the kings and the empress dowager. They were lined up two per row and informed about the rules of the selection.

“You have passed previous auditions and now you will be presented to the empress dowager. This is a great honor, but do not be nervous. If you follow the imperial rules, you will be fine.” The lead gugu stated.

 “You shall be brought to the empress dowager to be interviewed personally. If chosen, the eunuch will announce your name board to be kept and a  perfume sachet will be given to you.

If not chosen, he will announce for your name board to be removed and he shall bestow a flower unto you and be allowed to go home,” She continued.

 _Well that didn’t sound so encouraging,_  he grimaced.

“If you receive a  perfume sachet, it either means you will be kept or you could be immediately betrothed to someone of noble birth. But if you are more fortunate, you shall become a concubine and enter the Imperial palace.”

  _The news just keep getting better and better_ , he mused.

“Once you receive your titles, all that is needed is to wait for an auspicious day to enter the Forbidden city.” She stated again, making the candidates more excited than they previously were; if that was possible.

As if to dampen their spirits, she continued, “Your fortune will depend on your destiny,” with a bright smile.

They marched with their heads held high into the city gates that held their fate. Through all this, Harry never stopped praying. He did not want to be chosen.

When they reached the waiting hall, the teens started chatting again and formed little cliques to talk. It was amusing to Harry who recognized how these same people would most likely become the worst of enemies.

No matter how dignified, teenagers will be teenagers. 

Harry's eyes strayed to his sisters.

Along with Harry, his father had five other children. One from his wife, and four from his four concubines. Harry has three sisters and two brothers. His eldest brother Camden, is the legal heir, born to his father’s legal wife Nancy.

After Camden, follows his two sisters, Alice and Catherine. Alice is his father’s first concubine Patricia’s daughter. Catherine is His father’s third concubine Emily’s daughter. Then follows Harry from his father’s fourth concubine Lily, and finally, his youngest brother and sister Evan and Sarah from his father’s second concubine Faustina.

Alice and Catherine were both standing in the crowd of candidates to see whether they were selected or not.

He can probably guess what their wish boats say.

Alice's would definitely make reference to being selected as this was her last chance.

As for Catherine...

Well Harry doesn't know what to think of his sister, so he went back to his thoughts.

The missive said all young men and women of marriageable age were to participate in the selection.

Seeing as this was the last year for his sister Alice to be included in the selection, his father was more than enthusiastic to send her to the palace.

Among the semi-finalists were most of the Elite Children, including Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini, Hannah Abbot and Neville Longbottom.

He, as the lowest ranking among his siblings, was not worried about the final selection. He was not going to make it. This was an accepted fact that all in his position knew.

The palace had a reputation to uphold, therefore they graciously accepted all candidates, however the least influential children never made it past the semi-finals.

From birth, his future was already set in stone. As an ineffective spare, he was destined to Marry an old woman or man as their young concubine by age sixteen, and live quietly without bringing shame to his father’s name, seldom seeing his family-not that they were all that eager to embrace him.

With this in mind, Harry proceeded to observe who would be chosen instead. Without a doubt, the Malfoy boy would make it, seeing as the second King Lucius was his uncle. Perhaps the Zabini boy would pass also, his house is well acquainted with the Malfoys.

Longbottom is a hit or miss, although technically the legal heir, and therefore shouldn’t be included in the selection by default, his lack of presence led to his younger brother being made the heir instead.

As He contemplated, The Empress Dowager and one of the Kings was escorted to their thrones to give the final verdict.

He reluctantly brought his attention back to the empress dowager and the King. As their throne was far from where the candidates were standing, their faces were impossible to decipher, so Harry allowed his eyes to rest on the shoulder of the King’s throne and waited for the inevitable.

As predicted, the Malfoy boy passed, along with Blaise Zabini; they were bestowed a sachet.

Hannah Abbot was bestowed a flower and was rejected, and so on and so forth.

As the line dwindled and it came closer to his sisters, he breathed deeply and calmed his racing heart. He really wanted them to succeed.

Although he had made peace with his fate of being married off, his sisters still dreamed of being adored by their husbands. Usually proud and insufferable, they had been disturbingly cheerful and enthusiastic since the beginning of the selection, convinced that they would be selected and dotted upon by the kings and even the emperor.

They had made him uncomfortable to the point where he even went to the temple to pray for them to be chosen so they could go back to their previous character.

Alice was called upon, and she gracefully knelt, employing her handkerchief to kowtow to the empress dowager and king. She recited the usual greetings of blessings and was then silent as she was examined by the two royals on the throne. The Empress dowager asked her many questions pertaining to her knowledge, background and even favorite flower.

After careful questioning, she was bestowed a sachet.

Harry sighed in relief. This means less people at home to pester him.

Regrettably, Catherine was bestowed a flower and was rejected.

She could come back in three years to try again so he didn't dwell on it too much.

But Harry still saw the tears of frustration and humiliation in her eyes as she knelt to receive the flower. He felt bad for her. He knew how much she prides herself on her beauty.

The visage of the king was obscured by the curtain hanged in front of him to block the sun. He blanked his mind and looked down at his feet in an effort to avoid the gaze of the king he could feel on all of them.

He peeked through his bangs and saw him shaking his head at the candidates in the line one by one.

He breathed, relieved.

A few people were ahead of Harry, and by the time it was his lineup’s turn to greet the royals, the king was impatient.

One by one, the boys and girls in his line up were rejected after careful consideration by the Empress dowager and the king until they arrived at the last person in the lineup, Harry.

“Ming-Hui, daughter of Al-Xi deputy of commerce, is dropped. Bestow a flower! Alex Kingsley, brother of…” the eunuch at the side of the emperor named off the candidates being rejected.

As each flower was bestowed, the Empress dowager’s eyes continued to reproach her son subtly, so when Harry knelt to recite the ritual blessings upon the royals, the king simply pointed  and said, “That one, mother.”

Harry's smile froze in horror on his small face when the eunuch announced, “Harry James Potter, son of James Potter, Minister of defense is kept. Bestow a sachet!”

 His eyes watered for a brief moment and he gritted his jaw before curtsying to the king and empress dowager in thanks, “Thank you for your kindness your majesty,” he recited mechanically.

After they were ushered out, he almost broke down. He was in shock.

Harry’s hands shook.

This could _not_ be happening.

 _This_ was not the script.

His entire life was based on rules and regulations pertaining to what he can and cannot do.

What he was and was not.

He was not supposed to be accepted, and he cannot be a concubine to the emperor!

 Harry felt as though he couldn’t breath after he left the presence of the royals, his heart was in his throat.

He was selected.

Him, a commoner’s child was going to become the emperor’s concubine.

He had just traded one prison for another one. He laughed mirthlessly and calmed his heart and blinked away unshed tears.

His eyes glinted with sorrow as he walked back to his palanquin. 

_What a cruel joke._

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I'm back again. I'm going to try to update as much as I can while I'm on break and off from work. I was completely unprepared for the amount of support I received. Thank you all so much. And this chapter is dedicated to my first three commentators: angela+eva, Kate and Saint_Snape. Thank you all for your kind words. please continue to review and give me constructive criticism. Also, I'm still looking for a beta so sorry for any mistakes I've missed. Enjoy!

Inner court Rankings:

  * Empress (Chinese: 皇后; pinyin: Huánghòu), only one in the imperial harem.
  * Imperial Noble Consort (traditional Chinese: 皇貴妃; pinyin: Huáng Guìfēi), only one in the imperial harem.
  * Noble Consorts (traditional Chinese: 貴妃; pinyin: Guìfēi), only two in the imperial harem.
  * Consorts (Chinese: 妃; pinyin: Fēi), only four in the imperial harem.
  * Imperial Concubines (traditional Chinese: 嬪; pinyin: Pín), only six in the imperial harem.
  * Noble Ladies (traditional Chinese: 貴人; pinyin: Guìrén), unlimited number in the imperial harem.
  * First Class Female Attendant (Chinese: 常在; pinyin: Chángzài), unlimited number in the imperial harem.
  * Choice Lady or Second Class Female Attendant (traditional Chinese: 答應; pinyin: Dāyìng), unlimited number in the imperial harem.
  * Female Attendant(官女子), unlimited number in the imperial harem, typically granted to female servants who were chosen to be minor concubines.



 

(Harry James Potter)

* * *

 

The atmosphere in the Potter household was charged with conflicting emotions. It has been a month since the imperial selections, and it was finally time for the concubines to go to the palace.

In that four weeks’ period, Harry and Alice has been occupied since dawn to daybreak. Their days were filled with curtsies, ritual blessings and rules.

He didn’t even know that there was such a thing as elegant sleeping.

Apparently there was.

Consorts were required to sleep with their backs straight and their hands folded on top of their stomach. It makes for an uncomfortable and uneasy sleep, Harry has learned. The palace ladies frequented their house to help with manners and teaching them palace etiquette.

They were always surprised to learn that it wasn’t young mistresses Catherine and Alice going to the palace, but young mistresses Harry and Alice. Harry bristled at the title but has gotten used to it.

Although he is physically male, his hermaphrodite status makes him a “Young mistress.” Such were the times they lived, if ninety-nine percent of a person was male and one percent female, they were automatically considered female.

Harry cleared his head and tried to focus on his present situation. In front of him sat his entire family. His father sat in the center, with his concubines surrounding him in a semi-circular formation. Harry and Alice knelt before their father in a farewell.

He had already blessed them individually, so this was nothing more than a formality.

After today, they will probably never see their family again. All day long, Harry has been hogging his little brother’s attention. Evan was definitely his favorite sibling without question.

He was the youngest of all of them and so very energetic. He never sat still for more than a second and always squirmed for Harry when he was bored. Regardless of their different mothers, they got along better than all the siblings.

Lily, who cried at the news that her son would forever be lost to her, had finally come to her senses and helped with preparations for his departure. He didn’t have many belongings unlike Alice, whose mother was wealthier, but he has decent robes and jewelry for his new station. Seeing as he was going to serve as an ornament anyways. His father had brought him aside and told him to keep his head down and live quietly.

At the time, Harry had wanted to laugh-it was the same advice his father had given him when he informed him of his eventual future as a rich noble’s concubine at age nine. But he dutifully nodded anyway.

Although he understood the reason for the warning, Harry thought it to be useless in the long run. There was no need for him to keep his head down because he wasn’t going to be heard. He had received his rank and title yesterday, and he wasn’t even a proper concubine.

He was a first class attendant (Changzai), a level seven ranking. He was only marginally better than the serving class. Therefore, his position was automatically obliged to live with head bowed and eyes on the ground.

His musings were interrupted by the arrival of the palace ladies who would escort him and his sister. He bowed one last time to his parents, and followed the ladies to the palanquins parked outside. He was helped inside the palanquin, and the journey began. The journey was not overtly long, lasting less than thirty minutes.

When they arrived at the forbidden city entrance, he was overwhelmed by the amount of people gathered at the front gates. However, they were not entering through it. He asked one of the eunuchs who carried his palanquin why that is so, and was told that concubines must enter through the side door. Only the empress is allowed to enter through the main gate.

He nodded and observed that Obviously all the people there weren’t all concubines, as there were some wearing serving class clothing and headdress. They were informed that the imperial household department had already delivered their belongings to their palaces so they should follow their designated eunuchs to their palaces. With a harsh breath to study himself, he followed instructions and walked to his palace.

Harry was satisfied with his palace. It wasn’t grand at all, in fact it was the second smallest of the palaces allocated to the new concubines this year, but he didn’t mind. It was simple and clean. The furniture was nothing special, but it was better than what he expected. The interior was done in plain colors with yellow accents and the rooms were spacious.

There were two rooms inside the palace. The first was the drawing room, which included two large sedan-like furniture in the center of the drawing room. It was slightly shorter than his full height, and was raised up with a yellow cushion to sit on.

He wasted no time sitting on it to rest for a while. The second room was the bedroom, which had a simple rectangular bed, a cupboard, an incense pot and a small alter for any deities he may worship. He lived together with three other changzais. One on the east and another on the west of his palace, though he hasn’t been introduced to them yet. The servants he was assigned were few, but he thought they would be good at their jobs.

He had one head eunuch named Ronald, and one palace maiden named Hermione. And that was it. He reclined in his seat and rested his eyes for a moment. He had just an hour to rest before he had to greet the empress for the first time in a series of greetings which he would be obliged to give for the duration of his stay in the palace. That is to say, until he died.

Harry was awoken by Hermione thirty minutes in his nap.

He was ushered to the mirror to be made presentable to greet the empress. Hermione suggested colorful clothing to indicate his fortune, however he insisted on a more subdued option. In the end, he was fitted with pale blue robes with green pines embroidered on it.

Hermione carefully arranged the white collar around his neck, and proceeded to raise his hair. Unmarried women and hermaphrodites are required to wear their hair down always, but now that he’s “married”, he is obliged to raise it.

“Today is young mistress’ first official audience with the empress, you should dress up so you can stand out.” Hermione suggested.

She opened Harry’s sparse Jewelry box and waited for him to choose his accessories. Among the more complicated hairstyles available, he pointed to the smallest wooden plank to wrap his hair around for a simpler style which won’t hurt his neck.

“Do an ordinary bun,” he instructed her.

“Understood,” Hermione obeyed after briefly hesitating.

When she finished his hair, she asked to hang some tassels on his head piece but he shook his head again. He didn’t need to attract any attention.

“You are beautiful, young mistress,” Hermione stated reverently.

“Thank you,” Harry replied.

He rose his left hand daintily for Hermione to lead him to the empress’ palace. Along the way, he spotted the two other Changzais residing in his hall. He gestured for Hermione to follow them. He noticed that like him, they had few servants attending to them.

But he also saw that they opted to wear festive colors in contrast to his simpler robes. He mentally sighed, they were digging their own graves. By wearing festive clothing, they would only enquire the empress’ fury. What wife is ever happy when her husband acquires a mistress?

Nevertheless, he curtsied slightly to them and joined them. The concubines arranged themselves into two lines, seven in each line, making a total of fourteen new concubines. They stood perfectly straight with hands clasped together in front of them and their heads bowed in deference in the presence of the empress.

She was beautiful. Dressed in a golden peach robe with intricate patterns and embroidery, she sat on a throne with clear eyes, and a white smile which rivaled the shine of her crown. Her headdress was something like a hat, it was covered with gold all over, and accented by long golden tassels on each side. Harry knew instantly that her smile hid more than her tongue. Her hands were long, and her fingers were covered with long golden nail guards inlaid with gold.

On the left and right of the room were older consorts of the Emperor and kings. They were also impressively dressed, each with extravagant headdresses suitable of their station and status. With her arms on an elevated cushion, the empress sat up and greeted the new concubines.

“Meimei (Younger sisters), you are all so punctual. Have you settled comfortable in the palace?"

They all chorused together, “Thanks to your care and concern, we’re doing well.”

She smiled serenely.

The empress’ head eunuch then announced loudly, “The young mistresses will perform the formal salutation to the Empress.”

Harry flared his robe and knelt along with the rest of the concubines. The salutations consist of three kneels and nine kowtows. Women kowtow by raising their handkerchief over their shoulder. So they knelt once, raised their handkerchiefs over their shoulders three times, then arose, only to repeat the process two more times.

After they finished, they all greeted, “Huanghou NiangNiang(Empress), blessings.”

“You may rise,” the empress intoned graciously with a smile.

“Thank you, Huanghou NiangNiang,” they responded.

“Meet the other consorts as well,” the empress introduced.

“All mistresses salute consort Delacroix!” The head Eunuch announced.

“Blessings to consort Delacroix,” they saluted.

Consort Delacroix was a definite beauty to behold. She was slender and very pale with beautiful blue eyes and equally beautiful attire. She shone brighter than all the assembled consorts without trying.

Harry noticed her upturned nose and figured that she knew quite well that she was indeed beautiful. She kept them on their knees for longer than needed by yawing behind her elegant fingers and then proceeding to engage her servant in small talk about the empress’ jade vase in the corner.

“The quality of jades has greatly decreased. These new jades are not at all clear or transparent,” She said this with a superior look that betrayed the actual topic of her speech.

“Of course, I’m sure the emperor will get you better quality if only you ask,” the empress said with a smile.

“I suppose, the emperor does have good taste,” consort Delacroix relented.

After a few more ill-concealed barbs to them, the empress told her to allow them to rise.

“Oh my, so engrossed was I in conversation with the empress that I forgot you were even saluting me. Rise,”

she said with faux innocence dripping from her every word.

“Thank you Niangniang,” they all dutifully said.

The empress smiled again and spoke clearly, “From now on, we will be living together in the Harem. Remember that your duty is first to the Emperor and his Kings. Be eager to serve them dutifully and wholeheartedly, and add children to the imperial family.”

The girls sighed in anticipation subtly.

Harry caught a glint in the empress’ eyes before it mellowed down as she continued.

“Then of course, you must live harmoniously with each other, and _never_ be tempted into jealousy, for it would trouble his majesty.”

Harry caught the extra emphasis in her sentence.

“Understood,” He parroted along with the others.

“Usually, you would be obligated to greet the empress dowager. However, she’s occupied in prayers for his majesty and his reign. You all must be tired; you may take your leave now.”

“Yes, Excuse us,” They curtsied one last time.

Consort Delacroix halfheartedly curtsied and left before the new concubines could wish her farewell.

By this time, Harry's shaking had subsided, but an entirely different kind of chill took hold of his heart. He knew without a doubt that he would indeed need to be even more invisible than he already was.

Regardless of the smiles and laughs, the inner palace was a jungle, and he was loathe to be a prey.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys! It has come to my attention that I may have unintentionally confused some of you about certain things in my story so I'll take some time to explain a few things briefly.
> 
> 1\. The Empress Dowager is the Emperor's biological mother.( This is not always true in history.)
> 
> 2\. The "Kings" are an addition made by me, they are my invention. To my knowledge, only the emperor was allowed to bed the concubines, not so in my story.
> 
> 3\. The "Kings" are basically the emperor's right and left hand man who also double as his lovers.(They're not part of the emperor's harem.)
> 
> 4\. The "Kings" are the most powerful men in the British magical kingdom apart from the emperor.
> 
> 5\. Someone suggested that i should stick to the English titles of the consorts instead of the Chinese titles and though I think it is sound advice, I will continue to use the Chinese titles for first female attendant (Changzai) and second female attendant(Daying), because the title is too bloody long in English and remarkably shorter in Chinese in comparison.
> 
> If anyone is confused on something again, feel free to comment...I will definitely reply.
> 
> whew! Now on to the story.

 

* * *

 

Harry glided an ivory comb in his hair slowly with familiarity in his movements.

He ignored the ice in his veins as he concentrated on the simple movements of his hands in his hair.

But this was hard to do because of his servant's deliberate sighs and excessive noise.

_For goodness' sake!_

"Speak Hermione," He ordered.

She hesitated briefly while wringing her hands in the silk robes in her hands.

Harry could see her brilliant mind combusting from frustration.

"My Lady," she began, "Why must you go to this banquet?"

"The emperor graciously organized it for his new concubines, it would be disrespectful to not attend," Harry responded slowly.

Hermione's eye twitched.

"Even at the expense of your health?"

"My being belongs to his majesty."

Hermione sucked air through her teeth slowly.

"My lady, the other concubines will be in attendance. They'll make cruel remarks and jests about your person. Surely you must know that!"

Harry's hands stopped their movements momentarily. His eyes gazed at his image in the mirror flatly.

"What they do or do not do does not concern me, and it shouldn't concern you either Hermione," He stated softly but sternly, resuming his earlier grooming.

His servant's brows furrowed and her posture slumped in defeat.

Harry took pity on her and turned his body to face her.

"I am aware of their remarks and taunts, but I cannot show them any weakness if I want to survive. Do you understand?"

Before Hermione could open her mouth Harry continued, "and yes, that includes risking my health sometimes. I know my body well,I will not push it past what it cannot endure."

She closed her mouth with an audible click, nodded and pursed her lips at his stubborn nature.

Harry sighed in relief.

"Now, get me ready, I won't give them unnecessary ammunition by being late. you can even pick more colorful accessories this time."

Hermione's stiff lips relaxed slightly as she hurried back to her task of dressing her mistress. 

She hastened to pick a lightly pigmented, cyan robe and showed it to her mistress.

Harry nodded his approval. 

He studied the robe carefully as he rose up and raised his arms.

The robe was cyan-blue with a design pattern that mimicked water. The top five inches was a white expanse with a gray and black floral design and a deeper blue  color in little two inch stripes going diagonally.

Hermione helped drape the robe neatly on Harry's petite frame before arranging a white silk scarf belt named _longhua_ around his neck.

She tucked one end of the _longhua_ into the armpit of the robe and laid the other end gently on his chest. 

Harry sat back down gracefully for her to do his hair. He was slightly apprehensive about the free reign he'd given on his hair.

For the entire four months he's been in the palace, he's never worn anything ostentatious or obnoxiously intricate no matter how much his servant cajoled him.

But to set her mind on other things instead of her gloomy thoughts, it was a small sacrifice.

It was just one day after all. 

 _I certainly hope it doesn't become routine ,_ He thought darkly.

To stop unnecessary worries, he simply closed his eyes and waited somewhat impatiently as Hermione manipulated his hair.

After a few moments of silence, his thoughts had cleared and left him calmer, so he opened his eyes.

He blinked slowly in surprise: it wasn't as gaudy as he'd feared.

The wood frame for the hairpiece was slightly bigger than he normally wore, but it was rounded, and so appeared smaller than it was. And though Hermione employed more accessories than he was comfortable with, it was not overwhelming. 

She'd used small pink and flowers to decorate the immediate end of the headpiece, and then added a slightly larger cluster of an actual pink flower and a metal flower near the center of the hair.

The only ostentatious part of the hairstyle was a large ruby hair-clip arranged directly in the center.

Lastly, she hung a white tassel with a burgundy taint at it's tail of pearls to the right of his head and two clean pearl earrings to finish the look.

He loved it. 

He could see that the robe complemented his green eyes, but the headpiece brought more color to his attire.

 

"Thank you, Hermione. It looks lovely," he complimented her softly, smiling as she beamed.

She slid her arm under his left arm to help lift him from the stool he was sitting on and her eyes narrowed in concern at the sweat on his brow from the simple movement.

Harry rolled his eyes at her over-protective tendencies.

Hermione knelt and gently slid on three nail guards on his fingers and gave him his handkerchief.

Harry offered his left arm delicately to her patiently as she rose from her knees.

She took hold of his offered hand and led her mistress to the banquet hall, matching his dainty steps.

* * *

 

Harry  entered the emperor's banquet hall and was greeted with organized chaos. 

Of course the concubines were all properly behaved, yet due to the sheer number of them, they seemed like squabbling children in fancy clothing. 

As a low ranking concubine, he was seated at the tail of the "U" shaped seating.

 

The Emperor was seated on a golden throne which was smaller than the one in the throne room. On his immediate left and right sat the Kings. The Onyx King suited his name well. Shrouded in black robes of impressive quality, he embodied the sullen war lord he was very well. His  black hair was tightly controlled into a low ponytail by a silver hair claps. He sat straight, tall and imposing.

And ironically, he outshined the impecabbly dressed Empress sipping tea elegantly on his left. She shone in her own way, but her usual dominance waned in the presence of the three powerful men beside her.

Harry knew better than to meet her eyes.

He shifted his attention to the Ivory king on the right of the Emperor. 

_Well, he is definitely a Malfoy._

The Ivory King was very pale. His hair was pale blond with silver wisps, and laid on his shoulders elegantly. He sat slightly shorter than the black king, but was just as imposing. He's eyes were warmer than his antithesis, but did not have any openness to them. 

They were warm because they were passionate, ambitious.

 _Dangerous eyes_ , Harry added to his observation as he moved his eyes the emperor.

_Ah._

He was beautiful.

For a second Harry's mind didn't comprehend anything in the banquet hall except for the man on the throne in the center.

Tall and physically broad, he made quite an impression.

A sweet giggle brought Harry's attention back to the banquet.

He traced the sound to Draco Malfoy, and he delicately brought his lavender coated handkerchief to his nose to wrinkle his nose subtly in disgust at his earlier behavior.

_Beautiful. Really?_

He gestured for Hermione to fill his plate and distracted himself with making selections.

"Meimei (Younger sister), I'm glad you could make it, it's awfully hard to get a glance at you nowadays," Noble Lady Parkinson jeered.

"Jiejie (Older sister), forgive me, I will do better in the future," Harry smiled demurely.

"Oh what a surprise! Potter Changzai, I was under the impression that you were sick. Yet here you are, sitting among us," Imperial concubine Malfoy said with upturned lips.

"As I was saying to Noble Lady Parkinson, I will do better your highness."

"I'm sure you will," He sniffed.

"What has gotten my dragon so overworked?" The emperor inquired from his seat above.

Harry's heart stopped working. That voice...

_Stop it Harry!_

"Nothing your majesty, just making sure my younger sister is well," Imperial Concubine Malfoy chirped sweetly.

Harry didn't know if he should laugh at the smitten look on the usually arrogant boy's face or laugh that Draco Malfoy had been forced to call him _sister_ in any sense of the word.

 _a pureblood calling a halfblood kin,_ he thought sardonically.

He settled for a bland smile and dancing eyes.

The emperor zeroed in at Harry's eyes and he quickly averted his eyes back to his neglected pastries.

"You must be Potter Changzai, my sickly concubine," The emperor stated, "Truly,my Harem is filled with beauties," piercing Harry with Dark eyes.

_Do not look, do not look._

Harry lifted his left hand and Hermione, who was standing behind her mistress, took it and helped him up.

Harry curtsied by placing both hands at his side and gracefully bent down at an angle on his knees.

"Greetings and blessings your majesty."

"Rise," He waved his hands dismissively.

"Thank you Your majesty."

"I've heard that you were sick, but I have been unable to visit you, do not hold it against me."

Harry sat down, eyes still submissively averted.

"Your Majesty is kind. How can I begrudge the Son of Heaven?"

The Emperor chuckled.

"Nevertheless, it was remiss of me. I must reward you something to encourage your good health."

Harry glanced at him slowly, "It'll soon be winter, the east garden has been barren of flowers for quite some time. If Your majesty could reward me some flowers to plant, I would be grateful."

The Onyx king rose his head slowly and joined the Emperor in piercing Harry with their cold eyes.

_Bloody hell._

_"_ And that is all you desire?" The Emperor stressed.

"Yes your majesty, the flowers will fill the air fragrantly, eliminating the need for incense, Ultimately improving my health." Harry clenched his hands underneath his table cloth.

_Please, please let it go._

The Emperor sat up straight and narrowed his eyes until they were dark slits.

Harry swallowed.

"Then you shall have it," The Emperor relaxed.

Harry almost cried in relief.

_Like I said, this better not be routine. I can't survive  otherwise._

"Thank you, your Majesty."

The emperor returned his attention back to Imperial Concubine Draco as the blonde sat with swimming eyes and a pout on his cherry lips. He drew the blonde into a conversation that soon turned his puffed cheeks pink with happiness.

Somewhere during the middle of the banquet, the blonde had looked at Harry with fierce, superior eyes. Harry let him have the glory by ducking his eyes to conceal his mirth.

_How childish._

He was soon forgotten however, to his great relief, and busied himself by eating his pastries and speaking lowly to Hermione.

Towards the end of the banquet, when the food had been sent away and the royal dancers were twirling away in the center of the hall, he managed to excuse himself.

He'd been uncomfortable the entire time he was in the Banquet Hall, and the looks he'd received from the Emperor and the Onyx King did nothing but unnerve him further. 

"My Lady, please slow down, you'll tire yourself out!" Hermione admonished breathlessly.

Harry came to an abrupt stop. She was right, he could feel the fatigue slowly creeping it's way from his legs. He waited for her to reach him and walked with her sadately to a small lake.

 "What's wrong my lady?," Hermione asked as she helped him sit on a rock near the lake.

"Nothing, I just needed some air."

He brushed imaginary lint from his pristine robes and rubbed his legs to ease the unnecessary strain he'd added to them.

He didn't want to think anymore. No more Malfoy with his sneers and petulant attitude. No Emperor and his two lovers to disturb his peace of mind with piercing eyes that spoke more than words and yet revealed nothing.

The past four months has been a learning curve for him intellectually. He'd had to maneuver conniving men and women bent on destroying each other for five minutes of their husband's attention, create an unflappable mask to weather the scorn shown to him due to his status, and endure all this along with  his sickness with quiet dignity. 

He looked straight out to the lake and marveled at his reflection. Sometimes he didn't recognize himself anymore. 

Just a few weeks ago he knew exactly what life had for him. Now, he's part of an ever increasing household of women and men who would sooner gouge their eyes out than help each other; these people knew nothing of certainty.

They lived for the now, and that is why Harry just cannot relate to them. He's a potter through and through despite the slurs often thrown at him. He's been fed optimistic fortunes and thinking since his first breath. Regardless of the obsolete nature of such fortunes due to his status, he'd at least _had_ them. Now he doesn't have anything.

Alice.

Alice has made it very clear that her association with him wasn't going to get better Because of a change in environment. Harry's lips twitched widely at the memory of her denouncing him loudly in a crowd of concubines led by Draco Malfoy the first month in the palace.

 At the time he'd pleaded with her to reconsider, after all, dirty blood or not, they _were_ family. He shook his head as he remembered her answering sneer.

" _Toujour Pur_ ," she'd hissed at him.

_Always pure._

He hasn't spoken to her since. 

He supposed that getting promoted to Noble lady was a worthy reward for aligning with Draco Malfoy, the Emperor's dear "Dragon." He laughed softly, small puffs of air filled with melodious sounds. His laughter increased and became more joyous as he recalled Draco Malfoy's "sister" comment.

Hermione looked at him incredulously, questioning his sanity with her intelligent eyes and he laughed even harder. He held onto his ribs as he shook with laughter for close to two minutes. When his laughter subsided, he felt much better emotionally, though the same couldn't be said for his physical health. The raucous laughter had winded him a bit more than he'd expected, but he didn't mind too much.

He took Hermione's hands in his and looked at her with a mischievous glint in his emerald eyes. Hermione groaned: she'd gotten to know that that look meant trouble.

"My lady, _no,_ " she begged with defeat in her voice.

Harry ignored her and pulled his unwilling servant to the edge of the lake. He looked around his surroundings and made sure no one was looking. Then as quickly as possible, he discarded his silk shoes and wiggled his slender feet as it adjusted to the cool breeze.

"My lady, you'll get sick, please get back here!"

"Oh 'Mione, you should live a little. Come join me, nobody's looking. Besides, I'm already sick, no illness in it's right mind would attack an already sickly body. There's no pleasure in conquering the conquered, haven't I taught you anything?" He smiled winningly at her to show he was just teasing.

Hermione shifted in place as she looked around, worrying her lips.

"I might fall and drown if you don't come and help me," Harry cajoled.

His servant hastened to his side, carefully removing her shoes and socks as well. She went to his side only to discover that he wasn't even in the river. she sighed in relief. He chuckled and shook his head at her behavior. Then bent down and splashed shallowly in the water, sprinkling cool water on Hermione's face.

Shrieking and flailing in surprise, Herimione splashed some water accidentally on his face then stopped and stared at him, horrified.

Harry giggled and splashed her back. 

They played in the water for five minutes before Hermione put her foot down firmly and demanded that her mistress vacate the lake. Harry pouted but acquiesced. He'd gotten her in the water for a few minutes, and that was progress. The forbidden city wasn't build in a day.

After they'd redressed and were much calmer, Harry allowed his servant to lead him back to his palace.

He'd attended the banquet as was his duty, hopefully he won't be called again for another four months. One didn't need friends or immense wealth to survive in the palace, though they are beneficial to have. One didn't even need the Emperor's favor if one had anonymity, and he dearly hoped that he hadn't just destroyed his.


	4. Chapter 4

Harry was not called to the Emperor's service as he had feared, but he had been invited to many social functions he had managed to avoid previously.

The worst of these were with the more seasoned concubines and consorts such as Consort Delacroix and Imperial Concubine Lily Moon. He continued to use the same technique of attending the bare minimum of these functions to appear polite,but not enough to garner any unwanted attention to his person.

Despite this, he still hated the unnecessary pomp and circumstance accompanied by the social functions. Often he found himself drained by just sitting amidst all the political maneuvering and schemes.

He was a quiet person, and despite his bout of spontaneity once in a while, he did not like noise.

So with all this said, Harry was not very happy to be summoned to Draco Malfoy's palace by the Empress at seven in the morning when he felt as raw as uncooked vegetables. He arrived a bit later than the summons implied but he could not walk any faster if he did not want to faint dead in the cold snow.

When he arrived, he noticed that all the prominent concubines were there already. Some were sitting in chairs with tight smiles as they looked straight ahead. Most were standing near the emerald colored bed where Draco lay, rubbing his stomach and looking very pleased with himself.

Belatedly he became aware that the Emperor, and indeed his two lovers were sitting beside the blonde, their eyes warmer than usual, speaking softly to the concubine.

In just a year of his entrance into the imperial palace, Draco Malfoy managed to become pregnant.

Harry almost wanted to applaud him. In one move, the blond concubine had decimated any rivals he may have, and pulled the emperor's favor closer to his bosom.

But Harry knew that the blonde had also humiliated and infuriated the older consorts and even the empress by falling pregnant so easily. He observed all this in a matter of seconds and sat calmly in the corner of the room where his presence would be obscured  by the much taller consort Parkinson.

In the corner of his eye he spied his sister looking forlorn in a light pink robe, trying and failing to look happy for her pregnant friend. She had been promoted to Noble Lady due to her close association with Malfoy, and Harry knew that she'd serviced the emperor and his kings at least once. He wondered what specifically caused her sadness. Was it the fact that Malfoy became pregnant, or that She'd failed to achieve the same?

Harry's eyes stayed on her for a second more and averted it back to the blonde on the bed. It didn't matter because everyone failed at what Malfoy has accomplished.

It was unnecessary for the concubines and consorts to be in attendance of this clear show of superiority, and Harry was very positive that it was the Emperor's idea. He wanted to remind them of their purpose, and admonish them for their failure to deliver.

Pun intended.

As he was busy observing and organizing his findings in his head, he almost missed the heated look directed towards him. He rose his head slowly to gaze confidently into onyx eyes dark as the day is light.

Rising and bowing automatically, he lowered his eyes, sat down once again and waited to be dismissed with the other concubines.

"You've done well my Dragon," the emperor enthused, "I'm proud of you."

Draco beamed up at the monarch and continued to preen as he was showered with compliment after compliment.

Harry wanted to puke, but that was probably the vile concoction Hermione called medicine he'd ingested earlier. Or not.

_Probably not._

He mentally shook his head and remembered that this was a good thing; Draco Malfoy's pregnancy means that he would be completely forgotten by the emperor. Hopefully all his little invitations would cease also.

Gradually, he noticed that nobody knew what to do in this situation-there hasn't been a royal pregnancy since the birth of prince Michael, a product of rape between the Onyx lord's brother and a humble maid.

The maid committed suicide after giving birth and the child was quietly spirited away to the palace by his uncle. That was almost six years ago.

Magic has been dormant in the "wizarding" world for quite sometime. Nowadays, only the most powerful of wizards made use of their magic anymore. The most powerful of these select few is of course the Emperor, followed by his lovers.

Magic is very selective, and despite the many couplings the Emperor has had with his consorts and concubines over the years, their weak magical cores almost immediately terminated any resulting pregnancies in an effort to protect the bearer from the emperor's foreign and domineering magic.

While this shouldn't be a problem for his lovers to conceive, they do because as they are quite powerful as well, their magic fights with the more dominant magic of the Emperor. 

So the Emperor is simply too powerful to sire a child. At least that was the consensus, until Malfoy-the-great shattered it.

Shifting slightly to relieve some pressure from his behind, he looked to the Empress and was shocked at the lack of a mask on her face. She seemed genuinely shocked and dismayed. 

He averted his eyes from the raw emotions emitting from her aura. Sometimes he wished he wasn't so sensitive to people's feelings.

As the legal and longest spouse of the Emperor, not including the lords, she was the most humiliated. Bested by a seventeen year old concubine.

He swallowed the anxiety in his throat and rose gracefully with the help of Hermione, and walked the few feet between him and the emperor and his lovers.

He took careful steps and subtly favored his right leg as to avoid putting unnecessary pressure on his left leg; lately his legs have become the fixture of his illness.

When he reached Draco's bedside, he slid into an effortless curtsy, gritting his teeth against the pain and breathing slowly to calm his voice. He first congratulated the emperors, the lords, and then Draco Malfoy with all the heartfelt joy in his heart.

Which in this case, was plenty. 

Granted he was not happy that _Malfoy_ had conceived, but he was happy that a baby was concieved. The likely result of the Emperor forgetting him was just a bonus.

Lucius Malfoy, or Lord Malfoy inclined his head towards Harry and went back to caressing the identical blonde haired concubine in the bed.

Harry shuddered. _That image._

Harry focused on the situation at hand and saw that all the concubines and the empress alike had woken from their bout of uncertainty and have all begun to congratulate the emperor with fake smiles.

"Your Majesty, as I'm sure that Imperial Concubine Malfoy is tired, May we be excused?" The empress had regained her facade of gentle mother.

"Yes, you are all dismissed." The Emperor didn't move his hands from the concubine's stomach and  Harry watched eagerly as the unflappable Empress clenched her fists before slowly opening them. She nodded, smiled at Draco and left, leading the herd of shamed concubines back to their palaces to lick their wounds.

As the closest to Malfoy's bed, he was the last of the concubines to leave, and he hastened to make himself scarce.

Before Hermione could take his hand and lead him back home, someone else stole his hand. The unexpected move startled him, making his legs uneven. He stumbled once and somehow regained his balance, along with his dignity.

_What in the bloody hell!_

He turned slowly to meet the one who pulled at him and was faced with dark eyes that bore into his soul.

"What is your problem!" Is what he wanted to say, but instead settled for a response which was less likely to get him killed.

"My Lord?" Harry managed to keep his eyes firmly on the absurdly broad shoulders of the Onyx Lord's instead of his heated eyes.

"Sit down  Changzai, I believe I am in need of your presence."

_He did not mean it like that. He didn't, did he?_

"As you wish my Lord." He made way to go back to his original seating, and was once again deterred by large hands holding him steady where he was. He wondered what the others in the room were thinking, seeing as they had stopped petting Malfoy's stomach to observe him and the Onyx Lord's conversation.

His thoughts were interrupted.

"Sit by my side, I've heard much about you from your father. I believe you will be very important to Imperial Concubine Draco's welfare."

Harry stopped breathing. This could not be happening, not right now. But it was alright, all was not lost. There was no way his father would be _stupid_ enough...

 _"You must never let anyone know Harry."_ Whatever happened to that rule?

"I am not sure I know what you mean my lord," Harry stated calmly,"but if you require any assistance, I shall do all that is in my power."

The minister of War hummed and ignored Harry.

* * *

 

Harry was bored. He'd been stuck at Malfoy's for the better part of the morning. The Emperor and his paramours-as Harry has dubbed them-were engrossed in silent conversation with included a lot of blatant flirtation with their eyes.

" _Eye-fucking_ Harry," Sirius had once told him sagely after they had witnessed a similar occurrence between his parents when he was twelve.

At the time Harry had blushed to the roots of his hair and promptly vacated the room with the trail of his godfather's laugh behind him.

He very much wanted to run now.

Malfoy, the lucky sod, was fast asleep in his bed, warm and not freezing his vindictive backside off unlike him. The Emperor would not want his dear "Dragon" to freeze now would he.

_Oh hell, I sound like a jealous housewife._

But in all honesty, the clock almost read twelve, and Harry has not eaten anything. Also, his medication was beginning to wear off. Not to mention his poor servant. She'd been standing beside him for the entire four hours despite Harry's urging for her to leave. He took her hand and squeezed it for reassurance.

He has been silent the entire time out of respect for the lords and the Emperor, and also as a precaution to not die.

 _However_ , His spasming legs begged to differ.

So with minimal annoyance coloring his voice, he braved the lords with a clear expression.

"Your Majesty, my lords, If I may be excused?" "It seems that my presence is not as needed as initially predicted."

This time, The Ivory King addressed him.

"I Had forgotten that you were still in the room. Why did you not leave when you were dismissed?"

_You bloody well know why. But I won't give you the satisfaction._

"The Onyx King ordered me to stay behind, however it has been four hours since then, and I must make haste to take my medication my lords." 

The arrogance in the blonde dimmed slightly as he studied Harry's clenched fists in his lap and his occasionally spasming leg carefully.

"You must accept my apology then, for I thought he had dismissed you earlier.However, We still need to speak about certain information which has been kept from your records."

Harry willed himself to breath normally. He knew what the King was going to say, something he's kept hidden for so long.

"Why have you  been listed as magically impotent when you are superior?" The Emperor spoke this time, standing from his chair beside the pregnant concubine to give Harry his undivided attention.

_Well that secret was not too bad in comparison to-_

"Omega Potter?" The Emperor purred.

Harry's breath stopped in his lungs; there goes his fragile anonymity.

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys! I am so sorry for the delayed update, but life has been kicking me in the butt quite spectacularly lately.  
> I cannot in good conscience promise fast updates like the first four chapters because College and work has resumed, along with homework and other B.S busy work deemed necessary to graduate. As none of you care about my boring life, I'll let you go on to read the new chapter. Please enjoy and know that all your reviews means so much to me. Some early reviews left me quite discouraged because they bashed my less that stellar use of vocabulary but I've taken it in stride and have tried to curb my colloquialism a bit more. So once again, thank you guys so much for the support and I'll see you guys again(Hopefully sooner than later.)!

* * *

 

As absurd as it was, after the initial second in which his heart threatened to abandon it's vocation, the first coherent thought Harry had was that the Emperor sounded like a lion, a great lion with a thundering roar contained in a human body.

He felt that this description was accurate. The way the Emperor's body moved sinuously closer to Harry each second made his knees tremble.  Before he could voice this opinion and potentially humiliate himself any further, he opted to bite his tongue and instead find a more suitable answer to the burning eyes of the emperor.

That, was much easier said than done because _what_ was he suppose to say? His father never prepared him for this possibility; the possibility that someone may eventually recognize him for what he was and not who he was. The possibility that he would meet an alpha, not to mention a thoroughbred Alpha. And most definitely not a thoroughbred Alpha who was also his husband and the bloody _emperor_.

If Harry survived this, He would write a very angry letter to his dear father. Never mind that he wasn't allowed to communicate with the outside world, he would find a way.

"Your Majesty is an Alpha," was what his brilliant brain came up with. He couldn't really blame himself. No matter how much magic the Emperor was rumored to have, there was never a time when he thought that he might have been an alpha. 

He wanted to bang his head on something, He also curiously wanted to tuck his head near the neck of the Emperor and bask in the aromatic scent emitting from there. It smelled like frankincense. It smelled like power, it smelled like Alpha.

Harry backed away from the approaching monarch jerkily when he noticed where his thought processes had wondered. The Emperor inclined his head and scented Harry subtly through his nose. Harry stayed still as a statue. Only the uneven beats of his heart betrayed his anxiety to the Emperor.

He eventually stopped his scenting and inhaled more obviously to categorize Harry's scent in his mind.

"You're pure." He intoned with hidden delight. Harry tensed. "Yes your majesty, I have not chosen yet." The Emperor looked at Harry's green eyes with a possessive glint before affirming, "You will."

Harry knew what he meant.

"How your father managed to hide a pure Omega under my nose for fifteen years is a mystery, but no longer. You are mine." The emperor stated with finality.

_Yes Alpha._

  Harry wanted to flee with every part of his being, except his traitorous Omega nature that preened at the Alpha staking claim over him. He wanted to kneel, he wanted to flee, and eventually,the conflicting emotions cruising in his body crashed, sending him gracelessly on the ground, his blue robes piled over his limps. His mind was overwhelmed with sensation. Oh how he wanted to disappear into the magic of his Alpha. It was so aromatic, so strong, so possessive. 

Subconsciously, he became aware that he was dropping, but he didn't care because _Alpha_.

The last coherent thought he had was that the Emperor was as majestic as his magic. And that someone should really tell Hermione to rest a little.

* * *

 Harry awoke in his bedroom with Hermione sitting beside him, asleep. He looked at the clock to see how late it was to discover that it was seven O'clock in the morning. He'd slept for a day. He sighed when he remembered the events of yesterday. He can't believe he dropped like an amateur. He shook his head briefly before waking Hermione. She woke immediately and began fussing over him. He looked at her fondly and calmly allowed her to do as she pleased.

"My lady, the Emperor said to report to the Hall of the Rising Sun for an audience after you have eaten and taken some medicine." Hermione shifted awkwardly in place while biting her bottom lip. Harry nodded and continued staring at no particular place with unfocused eyes. Inwardly, he was panicking, thinking about what he was going to say when he went into the Emperor's presence. His Omegan nature wanted to obey and seek out his Husband immediately, but Harry's stubborn nature wanted to prolong the wait for as long as he could. 

He couldn't believe that he had dropped so quickly after the release of alpha pheromones and magic. He also couldn't believe that he'd gone so long without it. As much as he hated to admit it, the lack of an alpha in his life had negatively affected him quite a lot. He reached down to his knees to feel his sore legs only to find that they'd healed. He gritted his teeth and clenched his hands in small fists before releasing them with resignation.

It would be childish to refuse the Emperor audience simply because of his hurt pride. And he acknowledged that it was not completely his fault. He was young for an omega superior. He'd never met an alpha before and thus didn't have immunity to them the way he did towards betas. Alphas felt more intensely and had more magic.

Harry's cheeks pinked when he realized that he could still _taste_ the possessiveness of the emperor. He shook his head to erase any further thoughts before reaching for the blanket over him and moving it aside to attempt to climb out of the bed.

Hermione, almost tripping over herself to assist her mistress, held his left hand reverently, leading him slowly to the heated bath of rose water and vanilla petals. Harry loved Vanilla, it was clean, simple and guileless-everything he was. He removed his robe slowly, caressing the silk in his hands in an attempt to soothe himself.

He sunk slowly into the water, gently using his hands to splash the warm water on his body.  He directed the vanilla petals to dance towards him in a spiral formation with a flick of his right pointer finger and ignored Hermione's choked inhale.

He closed his eyes and tried to plan for the inevitable meeting with the Emperor. He didn't know what would happen. He doubted that the Emperor would inform anyone who was not already aware of Harry's true nature; he was too possessive for that. That left Harry with some options still, albeit within the emperor's control but options nonetheless.

He could not refuse the war minister's request(order) for him to abide by Malfoy's side during his pregnancy without consequences. Therefore he has to set up stipulations for obeying his order. He was not stupid. Malfoy would undoubtedly be subjected to many a plots to dispose of the child in his temporary womb. The ending result was surely death for Both Harry and the perpetrator. And no matter how much he hated living in the palace, he did not to die, especially not because of Malfoy.

He stood up from the bath with renewed vigor and plots in his mind. Hermione draped a large towel on his body and dried his body before ushering him to the bedroom to put sweet vanilla scented oils on his bare skin. He use to blush down to his private parts the first few days when she bathed him, never having anybody wait upon him like that since he was a toddler. But after months in the palace, he'd adjusted.

After getting ready, She opted for a simple charteuse green robe with a white expanse covered with golden flowers. She then draped a _longhua_ with circular golden flowers on it around his neck.

She could feel his mood-He'd allowed his magic to soothe her rattled emotions subtly while he was taking a bath, and thus was influencing her choice of clothing for him.

Green expressed his renewed magic and the burst of energy he'd gotten from the brief interaction with the Emperor's magic previously. Harry suppressed the longing for the safety of that foreign yet familiar magic. He turned his thoughts back to Hermione to escape his longing.

When she opened the jewelry box to decorate his bun, he allowed her free reign yet again, it seems that keeping busy soothed her when stressed. She opted for a blue ribbon to bind the middle of his bun, then added indigo flowers to the left side of the hair piece. After the flowers, she added a lighter blue butterfly to the cluster of indigo flowers. On the right of the bun, she added an azure phoenix tail to the bun. She reached again to the box and pulled out an ombre tassel, starting out as gray, and gradually becoming black. 

He prodded his magic slowly with fondness and led it back towards him. It caressed his servant once more softly before gliding back towards it's mistress.

Hermione shook her head slowly as she felt her emotions once again becoming tangled and confused without Harry's influence. He allowed her to get her bearings while he played with his magic, allowing it to freely dance around him in a way it hasn't been able to for a year since he's entered the forbidden palace.

His magic traveled along his robes and under his skin, making his skin appear to glow from the inside out. His skin glowed and shimmered as the mirror reflected his image back to him.

Hermione could not actually see his magic like he could, but he knew that she could feel it's presence, and see his glowing skin, evidence of another entity in the room with her. And when she looked down to stare shyly into his eyes in the mirror, he allowed her to scrutinize and calculate as much as she could without comment.

After she finished dressing him, he rose from the stool and slowly reached for her hand. She looked at him, shocked-it was the first time he'd voluntarily touched her without raising his left hand to ask for permission.

"Do not be frightened 'Mione," Hermione started at the airy voice coming from her mistress. It was still her mistress, yet so much _more_. "I am saddened that i was not able to reveal my nature to you in it's entirety, however you must understand why I had to do so. 

Harry really wanted to just share with her his thought process for his decision, but he knew that she would be overwhelmed by his magic since she was without any herself and was not acclimated to Harry's.

She slowly nodded her head but still averted her eyes from his twinkling eyes. He sighed and gathered his magic back towards his core. He ignored the grumbling of his magic, not wanting to go back to his core after being stuck there for a whole year.

As soon as his magic receded, his eyes stopped twinkling, and the airy timbre in his voice stopped also. His omegan nature bristled as it was forced to alter his appearance once again to fit the "Norm".

Hermione blinked slowly in response to the show of magical prowess in front of her before bending down in a curtsy. Harry smiled fondly, exasperated with her obsession with rules and authority. 

He took her hand slowly and patted it softly. "I never intended to lie to you truly, I never knew that there would be a need for me to reveal my omegan nature to anybody but myself. Only my parents were aware of my nature prior to the Emperor and his kings, and now you."  Hermione blinked in surprise.

She made as if to speak, closing her lips in a moment of hesitation.

He shook his head and encouraged her to speak. She took a fortifying breath before everything she'd held inside since the fateful night at Imperial Concubine Malfoy's palace spilled out without a filter.

"How were you able to avoid the Emperor's attention for all these years? Why did you not use your powers to avoid the selection? How were you able to hide your omegan nature from your siblings? Is it hereditary? Wow you're beautiful!

Harry stared at her momentarily before bursting out in laughter that rang throughout the hall like bells. He could see the pink flush coming to Hermione's cheeks as her mind caught up with her mouth. 

"Firstly, My father is the Minister of Defense, He has some sway on who is or is not registered in the National Register of Diasphoric Dynamics(NRDD). Secondly, I could not manipulate the outcome of the selection simply because my selection was not intentional. I'm sure you're familiar with the unspoken rule of rejecting children resulting from low-born concubines. I never considered the probability of that happening. As for my siblings, they never actually interact with me due to my "dirty blood".

Harry stopped to take a breath before continuing. "The only one whom I'm close to is my youngest brother, and he was too young to understand the significance of such a revelation. And finally, I do not think it is hereditary, for my mother is a so called muggle-born who also has non-magical parents and sister, none of whom are of exotic dynamics. And thank you for the compliment."

 He didn't tell her everything, but he'd told her more than most people knew, that would have to be enough for now. Knowing too much about him could put her in danger should anyone endeavor to hurt him through her.

She opened her mouth and formed an "O" with it before letting out an awed breath. Harry scoffed softly and raised his left hand. Hermione cleared her mind and took hold of his offered hand, holding it a bit more reverently than in previous times. Harry allowed her to lead him towards to the Hall of the Rising Sun, walking gracefully and without hesitation. He might not be anonymous any longer, but he could still choose how to emerge from the shadows. Nobody coerced the moon to shine when it was feeling shy. 

It was high time to engage the tide.


	6. Chapter 6

* * *

Winter is a particularly challenging season for Harry to embrace. He always has ambivalent feelings about all its components.

The bone-dry air in all its frigid majesty and the cadaverous skies laying silent, suspended and distant. The crunch of the snow on the ground which is oddly reminiscent of susurrating leaves in the fall.

He likes the cleansing element of winter; the gentle hush it brings to the world. It makes him forget the choking sensation at the back of his throat every time he initially inhales arid winter air into his weak lungs. 

This is exactly what he feels about the Emperor and his kings. He did not hate them on principle like some of the Light faction, yet he had no actual reason to like them. He liked them on an afterthought level, something he doesn't necessarily think about unless in their immediate company.

Some of the things which he's started to dislike about them is the frequency with which they were seen with Draco Malfoy.

Just like now, the blonde was shamelessly draped over an elongated stool with golden furnishing in the study room of the Emperor, almost sitting on top of his uncle Lucius. Although Harry knows that wizards were not as disgusted with incest as Alpha and Omega folk, He still blinked in surprised every time he saw them together.

They were sitting together with the Onyx King, playing chess.

He almost groaned; he hated chess. Standing on the side of the large oak doorway was head eunuch of the emperor, Antonin Dolohov. He made as to shout Harry's arrival but thought better of it as he caught the flat, unimpressed look in the concubine's green eyes.

He smirked subtly before announcing in a normal volume that "Potter Changzai has arrived!"

As he walked towards them with Hermione by his side, he resolved to be as firm and concise as he can about anything he may be asked. He nervously tugged gently at his erratic magic before it could leap across the room and reunite with the emperor.

The man himself was sitting aloof and apart from his lovers in a large throne-like seat, reading reports. He didn't look up from his papers, but his nose flared. Harry wasn't fooled, the Alpha had smelled him way before his arrival in his study. He allowed the charade to continue however by obeying tradition and bending down on the side to curtsy, uttering the tradition greetings.

"Huangsha(Emperor) May you reign ten thousand years."

"Hmm, what brilliant colors you're wearing today Meimei, what's the occasion?" DracoMalfoy unfurled lazily from the Ivory King's embrace like a snake awoken from slumber, not waiting for the emperor to acknowledge Harry.

Harry smiled pleasantly if a bit bland, knees bent in a curtsy, awaiting one of them to excuse him. Hermione glanced anxiously at her mistress on bent knees, looking for a signal on how to behave. She was still unsettled from her earlier discovery, and was clearly uncomfortable with the brash and rude nature of the blond concubine. Harry glanced her way briefly with a genuine smile on the corner of his lips, glancing away only after receiving a smile as a response.

"Rise," came the deep intonation of the Onyx King, apparently fed up with the stilted ambiance produced by the blonde's antagonistic comment. Harry turned to him with gratitude in his eyes before responding in kind, “Thank you your highness."

The blonde huffed through his nose, deliberately caressing his flat stomach in an attempt to arouse jealousy from Harry. Harry had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. For all his abominable ways, the blonde's ability to unknowingly entertain Harry was impressive.

"Indeed, it is a surprise to see my modest concubine in such bright colors. What are you celebrating? Speak so I may join you in your festivities," Intoned the Ivory King.

Harry blinked in surprise. While the older man hadn't snubbed him consciously, he never made any gestures to imply that he liked Harry any better than any of the concubines in the Harem-except maybe Malfoy.

Most importantly, it seems he has also started employing possessive nouns in reference to him just like the Emperor.

"Celebration would be an exaggeration my lord. My servant clothed me in vibrant colors due to my longing for Spring in this frigid winter; and her own attempts to mark my improving health against all odds." Harry did not want the emperor to think that he was somehow overjoyed beyond belief and was showing his happiness through his clothing.

The king smiled briefly before inclining his head in understanding.

"You allow your servant to dictate what you wear? No wonder you're often less than presentable Meimei," Imperial Concubine Malfoy taunted deceptively with an angelic smile.

Harry felt Hermione's breath catch in what he assumed was annoyance; his magic was content to rest on his bare skin so he couldn't feel her emotions keenly.

He gently took her right hand in his hand and held it close while affirming, “Yes, unfortunately for me, I am fashion challenged, but it is my fortune to have such a dedicated servant as Hermione who is quite the fashion enthusiast. As I have heard the same of your eunuch Dobby."

He turned fully to the blonde concubine's direction and waited for his reaction. The blonde cringed at the mention of his fanatic servant before going back to glaring at Harry. 

"Why don't you have a seat Changzai? Seeing as your health has just started improving, you shouldn't do anything to jeopardize the process.”

Harry nodded with a polite smile and sat beside the Onyx King. He accepted the offer of refreshments made by the awaiting servant girl in the room and smiled at her in thanks. Malfoy watched his movements with disdain as he plastered himself even closer to the Ivory King's chest.

Harry purposely kept his eyes off from the emperor even though he could feel his eyes on him. He tried very hard not to squirm as he sat with perfect posture. This was not what he thought would happen when the emperor requested his presence. He'd expected a continuation of the confrontation that occurred at Malfoy's residence. Not this awkward gathering.

Then again, maybe this was strange to only Harry. For all he knew, the four of them (Malfoy included of course) could have been doing this very gathering for a whole year, so they may not be awkward to each other.

He refused to acknowledge the painful throb of his heart at the thought.

The emperor finally rose his eyes from his reports and directed them to Harry's green eyes, daring him to avert his eyes. Harry wanted to keep staring at the emperor's eyes just to see what the alpha would do, but knew that not only was it stupid politically, that it was impossible physiologically. 

"Would you be kind as to grind some ink for me Changzai?" The emperor finally asked after Harry averted his eyes in submission. Initially Harry didn't register what the Alpha had said, but after it sunk into his brain, he rose up slowly and walked to the emperor's side. 

The ink pot was almost empty, and the black ink stick on the ink stone was brand new, presumably left there by one of the servants. Harry excused himself and reached across the emperor to grab the ink stick with slender hands, accidentally brushing the emperor's right hand. The short interaction of skin froze all breath in his body, leaving him to stare at the emperor like a possessed being.

The emperor himself held himself still, continuing to hold onto Harry's fingers in a slightly tight grip. the air was thick between them, with neither willing to speak, lest the magic buzzing around them cease. The emperor reached for Harry's other hand slowly, looking at the boy for any signs of protest. When he found none, he extended his hand to Harry's left hand, gripping it just as tight as his right. 

He added the two hands in one of his massive hands and breathed subtly onto them, wanting to leave an imprint of his scent on the pure scent of his omega.

Harry's breath hitched and his beating heart took off on a rhythm of its own, alerting the alpha of his inexperience. The emperor smirked and brought his nose closer to Harry's palms, landing a soft kiss on each palm and further escalating the beating of Harry's heart. The Alpha chuckled.

Before Harry's body could betray him any further, he was interrupted by the clearing of a throat. Harry blushed as he came back to reality. He made as to dislodge his hands from the emperor's large hand and succeeded in removing his right hand.

The Alpha kept a tighter grip on the omega's left hand with his right hand and went back to reading his reports with his left hand. Harry finally looked up from his imprisoned hand to see a fuming Malfoy standing with his hands across his chest. He turned his eyes to the center of the room to see Hermione's flushed face and the onyx king's barely perceptible smirk.

He tried to calm his pounding heart, succeeding somewhat before going back to his original task of grinding the emperor some ink. He held the ink stick in his right hand shakily before grating it slowly on the slightly rough surface of the ink stone. He continued grinding the ink while very aware of the hand keeping his hands prisoner underneath the oak desk.

During this lull in conversation, Malfoy went back to the Ivory King's side to sulk loudly as he settled on glaring at Harry. Hermione was doing her very best to hide her smug smile as she witnessed such a private moment between the royal family.

The confusion with the emperor's behavior evaporated over time as Harry got well acquainted with the motions of grinding gritty ink on the slightly rough surface of the ink stone. His thoughts cleared and his magic pooled softly at the tips of his fingers, making the process of grinding the ink smoother. The emperor, not missing the sudden influx of magic in the atmosphere, turned to look at his concubine for a second before allowing his own magic to join Harry's.

Initially, Harry was unaware of the new magic in the air, so focused was he on his current task. But in a few seconds, he felt the distinctly domineering presence of the Emperor's magic around his fingers, guiding his fingers along with Harry's own magic.

If Harry had to describe his magic in terms of personality, there would be no doubt that he would describe it as an overexcited child. His magic was overjoyed by the arrival of the emperor's magic, swirling around Harry's finger in excitement while hesitatingly hovering near the emperor's magic like a shy lover. It didn't completely touch the Alpha's magic, but it was very close to it, humming and purring in pleasure-not very different from Harry's omega form.

The emperor watched in amusement as his black magic evaluated the shimmering green magic loftily, unsure of this flighty creature with boundless energy. Harry wanted to scold his magic to calm down, but it was still young like he was, and unlike him, it was not mature enough to behave itself unless in a life or death situation. He turned his attention to the majestic magic of the emperor.

The magic was powerful as was evident by the form it had taken. He didn't know the exact age of the Emperor, but he he was fairly old, a few decades older than Harry's own father. which explains the appearance of his magic.

Since he'd never known any alpha/omegas except for his uncle Remus, Harry had always assumed that all Alphas had wolf spirits. This was obviously not the case for the emperor seeing as his magic manifested in the form of a basilisk. It's scales ranged from opaque black to deep violet. He bet the emperor had a name for it too. Harry was too young to name his magic, and he hasn't even begun to guess what shape his magic would eventually form.

As for now, he stared at the Basilisk with awe, wanting to touch it and fearing it at the same time. He averted his eyes to look at the emperor, only to collide with murky eyes of fire. The two stared at each other, once again inescapably entranced with each other.

 Until once again, the mood was broken by the impatient sound of a throat clearing. Once again, Harry glanced back to Draco Malfoy, however this time, his omegan possessiveness towards the Alpha next to him outweighed his polite mask, making him look the blonde in the eye directly without backing down.

When he realized what he was doing, he quickly jerked his eyes back down and curtsied apologetically, ashamed and mortified at his behavior. He cannot allow his nature to overwhelm him like that, it could mean serious consequences if it manifested at the wrong time.

He turned away from the baffled eyes of Draco Malfoy towards the emperor.

"Your majesty, I apologize but may I be excused? I would like to take my afternoon tonic." 

He wanted to escape the room at once. But Alas, the emperor had different ideas.

"Draco my dear, I believe you should make your way back to your palace while the air is still cool. I do not want you walking at the peak of the afternoon while the sun is at it's height. I shall visit you tomorrow."

Harry tried to contain his shock at the abrupt dismissal of the emperor's favorite concubine. Draco on the other hand made no such attempt. The incredulous look on his face gave way to betrayal, prompting feelings of pity in Harry's gut.

He quickly squashed the unwanted feelings, knowing that it was not his fault.

Still...

The blonde nodded jerkily and bowed before leaving the study with a huff.

Harry made way as to follow, but was stopped by a command: "Stay."

he turned slowly towards the emperor and swallowed, he could taste the turmoil of Draco still at the back of his throat, and could feel echoes of Hermione's discomfort, but the raw feelings coming from the emperor out shined them all. His knees almost buckled under the weight of it all.

the emperor walked towards Harry slowly with calculated steps. He reached for Harry's cheeks with both hands, stared into them and then Harry was gone.

 

 

 

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry wakes up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chaper is dedicated to asyadreamer09. Go ballistic girl and thank you so much for the love.

 

Harry hates mind readers. He especially hates non-intrusive mind readers. Legilimency or whatever it is called is one of the most hateful branches of magic in existence concerning Omegan biology. Because of their many emotions, the counter to legilimency called occlumency was almost impossible to master, making them easy targets.

During the Omegan slave trade a few hundred thousand years ago, the newly empowered human wizards exploited this weakness in unbelievable ways, but Harry never thought that he would be on the end of the same humiliating attack centuries after that.

When the Emperor entered his mind, Harry had no defenses against him, especially since he didn't recognize the attack for what it was. From the scarce tales written down for public consumption on the omegan slave trade, Harry had expected the invasion to be violent and overt. Now he knows that one of the most hateful parts of the attack was its non-violent appearance. And he could not believe that the emperor did it to him!

He jerked out of the emperor's loose embrace to put an unsteady hand on the seat where Malfoy had been occupying. He's hands shook in shock and his eyes burned with humiliation and anger.

The Ivory king made as to steady him but was stopped by an angry chartreuse barrier made of Harry's hissing magic. The magic flailed in place, resembling heat waves and making sounds like a rattle snake. It took all the patience, all the redundant etiquette lessons and his mother's anxious face to not lash out like his magic desperately wanted to do.

Instead, he took a deep, calming breath and stood silent, removing his trembling hands from the seat to clasp them on the upper part of his chest. "With all due respect your highness, I will not be responsible for my actions if anybody attempts to touch my person." He turned to look directly at the emperor who was standing stiffly with thin lips, staring at Harry with a strange look.

"Did his majesty find all he wanted to see? Or should I elucidate and explain my memories?" The emperor raised his head higher to stare at Harry's flashing green eyes and responded, "No, it was quite explanatory on its own."

Harry took a shaky breath, "Good, then you will excuse me if I make myself scarce from now onwards. And I realize that you are the emperor and, therefore, need not to ask permission before taking anything beneath the sun. However, On the account that I have been wrongly assaulted, I ask to relinquish my duty of overseeing Imperial Concubine Draco's Pregnancy.There are plenty of capable healers in the royal Infirmary that would be honored to take on such a role."

Then curtsying elegantly and coldly, He left the study, taking note of the cold glance of the Onyx King.

 

At the sight of her mistress, Hermione straightened up with a smile on her face to greet him, only to gradually drop her smile as she took in his nonsmiling visage and the tight anger in the corner of his green eyes and his pink lips. When she got even closer, she noticed that the glowing element that was present in his eyes in the morning was once again occupying the green irises. However, this time, the intensity sitting deep in his eyes were not playful, they were angry.

They were furious eyes, and yet so very sad. Harry made a gesture with his hand for Hermione to keep her comments until later, barely glancing at his servant partly in fear of accidentally hurting her and also because of the very real possibility of him crying.

Hermione nodded her head and took his offered hand still held stiffly in the air to lead him back to his palace. She tried not to be too concerned about the blackening snow beneath her mistress' feet as he walked with tightly controlled rage in his deceptively calm face.

she didn't know what had happened in the amount of time when she vacated the study but it seemed to have completely eradicated all the good feelings that were surrounding her mistress earlier.

When Harry reached his palace, he felt compelled to cleanse once more. He felt violated and filthy, and his omega was shrinking inside him in fear and humiliation, thousands of memories from the past that was not his own floating in his eyes and freezing his blood in terror. He sent Hermione away to fetch him more hot water to escape from her probing eyes.

He couldn't find it in himself to explain to her what had occurred. How does he even begin to explain something which he does not completely comprehend in its entirety?

The omega was more than a dynamic, it was conscious, a twin persona so integral to Harry's person that separation of the two would be fatal. But the omega was not just a solitary being, it was also a collective conscious of all things omega. From the instincts to the history and feelings that have defined Omegan nature since the inception of the dynamic, all of it was contained in the omegan conscious.

Usually, that was not something malicious or inconvenient, but when a memory which has been repressed for generations is forcefully brought to light, the person relieved those memories as if the memory was their own.

This was precisely what the emperor managed to accomplish when he invaded Harry's mind. He'd always had whispers of past sorrow and woe at the back of his mind, hopeless voices of countless omegas who had been abused, raped, exploited and misused in so many ways during the omegan slave trade.

As a child he'd been assaulted by phantom hands and foreign magic of long dead omegas who were wrongly robbed of their rights as human beings.

He had stayed up all night sometimes with numerous candles lit in attempts to ward off the ghosts of the past. In later years he's eventually learned to coexist with the ghosts, sharing their pain and emerging himself in their sorrows, if only to gain more knowledge on the history of his people and what atrocities they underwent under the thumb of the Wizards.

The so-called pure blood wizards were once the same as the muggles whom they despise so much. They only became so-called wizards after numerous interactions and inter-dynamic marriages with the Alpha and omegas. The alphas though were spared from such horrific fates due to their physical strength and autonomy. They easily overpower the Wizards.

The omegas, in contrast, did not fare so well. They were captured from their native lands away from their alpha husbands and wives and forced into sexual slavery for the sake of procreation in the hopes of creating wizard offspring.

Since Omegas are pure magic, their offspring is also guaranteed to be magical even if they do not exhibit a particular dynamic. This disgusting trade soon became the omegan slave trade, a slavery system endorsed by these magic-less people who were now becoming magical one by one by transference of magic from raping omegas. The alphas who tried to collect their omegas were often misled and brutally beaten until the verge of death, a very effective method of incapacitating their magic and strength.

Eventually, the Alphas gained enough strength as a whole to stage a surprise rebellion, killing thousands of wizards and freeing their wives, husbands and sometimes their offspring. The slave trade ended after the alphas made an ultimatum, threatening to level wizarding Britain to the ground if all Omega held in bondage are not freed by the end of the day.

They got their wish, and after a year of freedom, the Alphas and Omegas decided to follow the example of the high elves and exiled themselves to a pocket universe to which none who were not invited could see or visit.

With the departure of the two dynamics, all that were left were the new wizards, unskilled in magic and awaken from their drunken dream. The very few remaining offspring and half-casts of the Omegas eventually reproduced, sometimes giving birth to omegas and alphas. But the children were not exploited like their ancestors were.

They were put into a sort of witness protection that eventually became the Department of Diasporic Dynamics(DDD). As the gene pool became more filtered with wizarding blood, the number of alphas and omegas born became rarer until they became almost extinct. Hence, the surprise when people learn of their existence.

As a child, Harry was bombarded with memories which were not his own. Memories filled with death and agony. The most horrifying ones left him paralyzed with fear for hours, shaking and crying until his eyes became swollen and glued together.

He'd gradually managed to filter through the memories, evoking a sort of shroud around the memories to continue functioning properly. Yet all his efforts were effectively rendered useless by that one invasion of the Emperor.  
On that note, Harry wondered what the Emperor thought about the fact that including Harry, there were less than five superior Omegas on the planet, with two in Africa, one in japan and one in Europe.

Surely there were, at least, eight registered Alphas, all who wanted to acquire a superior omega. Of course, there were a decent amount of regular omegas, Harry knew that there were forty regular omegas registered by the DDD, including his mother.

As a regular omega, she had more magic than the average witch or wizard, but far less than a superior Alpha or Omega. Thinking of his mother brought a foul taste in his mouth because he knew his father did all this for her benefit.

Logically Harry knew he couldn't blame his father because he was between a rock and a hard place. But Harry also knew that his father told the emperor all he needed to know about Harry only because the Alpha probably threatened to expose the fact that the Minister of Defense was married to an unregistered Omega.

If His father had registered his mother on the registrar, His mother would have had more suitors vying for her hand, nevermind her dirty blood. And seeing how besotted his father is with his mother, it is not surprising that he kept her to himself.

Still knowing all the factors that went into his father's decision did nothing to appease the anger in Harry's heart. The feeling was familiar, it tasted bitter, like the coffee he was forced to drink at seven. It tasted like betrayal.

  
Harry shook his mind free from the gloomy thoughts and memories threatening to overwhelm him. He just needed to sort himself out once again. Regardless of decisions made for him by the authority figures in his life, he still had control of his reaction, and Harry prided himself on being reasonable.

He has always been invisible and virtually unknown to the outside world due to his status, but he has always been reasonable and levelheaded. Anger is useful for getting things accomplished, but only fools allowed anger to rule their every decision and reaction.

He may have never been taught the great arts to the extent of his sisters, but what he does have at his disposal, he intends to utilize them to the best of his abilities. Even if that means an impasse with the emperor to retain the peace. An uneasy peace is better than outright antagonism which may draw the unwanted eyes of the empress.

At a time which she was looking for scapegoats to vent her frustration and shame, Harry did not want to deliver his neck on a silver platter to her.

He turned around at the sound of shuffling feet to discover Hermione and Ronald bringing in charcoal and buckets of water. He stood slowly and slowed his breath to accommodate the sudden surge of magic in his system.

He walked towards them sedately, being very careful to restrain his magic, lest Ronald should guess his nature.

He was going to take a bath, then take an afternoon nap to relax and give his magic some rest. Afterwards, he will do something productive which will take his mind off of the emperor and his lovers for at least a few hours. Yes, that was exactly what he was going to do. If that sounded suspiciously of him avoiding the issue, he didn't care.

Thanking his servant and walking with Hermione to the bathing area, he continued to think.It wasn't what he wanted to do, he wanted to go to the great hall and confront his husband, he wanted to yell at his father at his inconsiderate actions and he wanted to stop the insidious memories from invading his dreams and mind but none of those were viable.

  
Harry submerged himself in the vanilla-scented water and held his breath while he thought.  
Because he couldn't do what he wanted, he was resolving to do what he could do that would not drive him insane.

No matter how much his omegan nature wanted to run back to the emperor, his mind refused that line of thought. Perhaps he'd surrendered too easily. He shouldn't have been so amicable to the emperor's affections.

Alpha or not, he was the ruler of wizarding Britain, the Son of Heaven, he can and will do what he wants. It's time Harry remembered that.  
He wasn't married to just any man, he wasn't married to any alpha. Yes, he is married to an Alpha, but so are a lot of consorts, two kings and one empress. What difference did one plain Omega make to the emperor?

Harry abruptly emerged out from under the water and took harsh breaths to calm his racing heart. His eyes were dilated and slightly red from the heated water.

  
He removed himself from the water mechanically and raised his arms for Hermione to towel him dry.  
He pretended that the long-withheld tears flowing from his eyes were water from the bath water and averted his eyes from Hermione's concerned irises.

He supposes that he'd awaken from his short delusion.

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While the cats' are away, the mice will play.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm out of college for spring break, so I thought I should treat you all to faster updates than normal.Happy spring break!

* * *

Harry has been good. He's visited the empress more times than he can count, more than some of the concubines to be honest.

But surprisingly, he finds himself in the company of the empress dowager more often than not.

The Emperor's mother was an elderly woman who was born from a regular omega and thus has a little bit of magic. She had a frail disposition but Harry could tell that she was more steel than bone.

The concubines were obligated to greet her once a week like they greet the empress once a day, but Harry never feels compelled when he greets her.

She was old fashioned and uncompromising. Stubborn to a fault yet very wise. She spoke to him about everything under the moon, advising him on palace etiquette and teasing him about his modest appearance.

They got along like a house on fire because they were very similar in personality. He doesn't care to pretend to be anything less than he is, and she accepts him without reservations.

It has been six months since the altercation with the emperor and Harry has calmed down somewhat. He knows in hindsight that hiding from the emperor will accomplish nothing since the man wasn't one to fixate on anything that doesn't ultimately benefit him in some way.

He'd, of course, made a few visits to Draco Malfoy. Even though he'd relinquished the duty of looking after him, there is no reason to completely appear cold-hearted.

Most of the other consorts have ceased to fawn over the blonde on the account of his pregnancy. They feared both the wrath of the empress and the power the blonde will possess after the baby has been conceived.

Harry knew that both were legitimate fears, however allowing it to overwhelm them and influence their decisions was not intelligent. Should the baby be born, any associate of Malfoy will enjoy some of the power the blonde will have.

Not that Harry wants any power per se, but having a backup plan has never hurt anyone.

Presently, Harry was sitting with the empress dowager, discussing the spring banquet the empress was planning. The dowager empress was in her bed, propped up on a golden silk pillow while sipping tea, and Harry sat beside her on a wooden chair with cushions, drinking chamomile tea.

There were more people here four hours ago, but they'd all vacated back to their palaces. Harry stayed behind with Hermione to keep the empress dowager company.

The dowager empress had requested for Harry to call her mother a few weeks back, and as much as it bothered Harry to breach protocol, he obliged her. Hence, his predicament now.

"Royal mother, I completely agree with the royal healer to continue with your medications even after your symptoms has subsided. As we were saying, the Banquet is in a few weeks and we want you to be as healthy as you can be."

The Dowager empress looked at Harry's furrowed brow in exasperated fondness and handed her tea to her head servant.

"My dear, You worry too much. I am not ill, I am just very old. Nobody can escape old age although my son likes to think so," she responded with a dimpled smile.

Harry shook his head as he tried not to smile at her antics. Hermione bit her lips too. It was really a losing battle. He genuinely liked the emperor's mother. Although not an omega, she knew what it's like to know one, and she didn't bat an eye at Harry's impressive magical reserves.

If only she listened to his impressive arguments about her health too.

Before he could respond, however, the eunuch at the door announced that the emperor had arrived.

Harry vacated from his seat and knelt down into a curtsy immediately. The emperor entered his mother's chambers in a fitting robe and accompanied by the kings and of course Draco Malfoy.

The blond's stomach was now showing, a huge bump that complemented his figure, although he tends to look a tad unbalanced. The child was due very soon, less than three months.

"Greetings your majesty, my lords and Imperial Concubine Malfoy," Harry recited manually.

"Rise." The emperor intoned. "Greetings Mother," the emperor knelt down on one knee, followed by the two kings. Malfoy didn't follow suit, he was too far advanced in his pregnancy.

He rose again at the same time that Hermione helped Harry up. Harry gestured for her to move him to the seat on the far left to give the emperor room. Draco Malfoy stood uncomfortably with his hands around his middle, looking nervous and unsure of what to do.

The concubine hasn't had much time to interact with the dowager queen bar the initial selection. In fact apart from Harry and the empress, none of the concubines in the Harem knew how to interact with the dowager. She was more straightforward and direct than any of them were accustomed to.

The onyx King helped the nervous concubine in the cushioned seat Harry had been occupying. "Greetings Empress Dowager, may you live for a thousand years," the blond ventured softly.

The dowager scrutinized him for a second before smiling briefly, turning her eyes back on Harry. "Dear Harry and I were just discussing my health lately, and He was just advising me on the merits of medicine before your entrance," The dowager teased.

Harry's cheeks pinked and he subtly covered his cheeks with his perfumed handkerchief.

"Oh? Are the royal healers not doing their job to satisfactory standards mother?" The onyx king seemed serious in his inquiry, thin lips curling in distaste at the thought.

"Leave those poor healers alone Severus, I just do not want to drink their bitter medicine."

Harry smiled at her honesty, forgetting to cover his mouth with his handkerchief and thus allowing those in the room to view it.

He quickly averted his eyes when he looked up to see three sets of eyes burning into his skull, looking as though they wanted to devour him.

He ignored them. The dowager noticed the tense atmosphere and started a conversation with Malfoy.

"Now then Imperial Concubine Malfoy, I've heard many things about you, I hope you are doing well and looking after my grandchild carefully?"

"Y-yes Your highness, the healers say that the child is healthy and in an excellent position."

Harry tuned the rest of the conversation out, opting to leave the royal family to their business. He checked the clock on the uppermost wall and sighed in relieve.

While he enjoyed the dowager's company, he couldn't say the same for the rest of the room's occupants, and the late hour gave him an excellent excuse to escape.

"Royal mother, I have shamefully taken too much of your time, I apologize. If I may be excused, I have to go and take my medicine," Harry said as he rose from the wooden chair.

The dowager turned to him with a knowing smile on her lips, prompting a deprecating smile from Harry. He gave her his hand by her request, allowing her to hold his palm and bless him before sending him on his way.

Harry couldn't tell if the look in Malfoy's eyes was jealousy or admiration. He didn't care for either to be honest.

He once again curtsied and left the room as silent as he came.

 

(Harry curtsying before leaving the Dowager's residence.)

* * *

 

The next time Harry met Draco Malfoy almost ended in Tragedy. The spring banquet was postponed due to the emperor's untimely absence.

  
The emperor, his kings, and the empress were absent from the palace due to a diplomatic visit with the king of Persia.

There were talks of a possible treaty that benefited both parties, but the Persians were a traditional people, and they do everything to reflect that, even foreign policy. Therefore, they were meeting in a neutral zone to settle their differences. In their absence, Consort Delacroix was in charge of the harem.

Harry, for one, was delighted. He didn't have to endure awkward glances from the kings or the emperor.

The day was especially warm for a may afternoon and he'd opted for a nap in the shade of the garden trees to escape the heat.

On his way back to his palace, he was distracted by the frantic steps of a rushing servant. He turned around to see who it was to discover Dobby, Malfoy's enthusiastic servant almost in tears. The eunuch explained that his master went to greet consort Delacroix and was late. He feared that she may not allow him to return.

To calm him, Harry agreed to personally go with him to consort Delacroix's residence. Upon his arrival, Harry was met with a meeting of consorts already gathered in the main hall of consort Delacroix's residence. There were about fifteen consorts in attendance, all speaking with heavily coated words.

Harry greeted Consort Delacroix and sat down. He wasn't obligated to come to this meeting since he'd been assisting the dowager queen and was sickly most of the time. She couldn't fault him for his tardiness.

On his immediate right sat Draco Malfoy, looking tense and ruffled. Not at all his usual self.

"Greetings to Consort Delacroix, I wasn't feeling well so I arrived late. Please forgive me." That explained why the blond was so tense.

"Due to your pregnancy, fatigue is unavoidable, please rise." The stress the consort put on "pregnancy" put Harry's teeth on edge.

The air seemed to absorb all the tension immediately, leaving the room uncomfortable and pensive. Blaise Zabini broke the tension by picking up a small rose flavored cake.

"The rose flavored cake is one of the tastiest delicacies, yet after smelling the fragrant incense in your palace, the cake seems flavorless."  
The mocha skinned boy smiled as he bit into the cake.

The consort smiled smugly.

He continued," Forgive my boldness, but what scent does consort use?"

Draco dabbed at his nose with his scentless handkerchief.

"Ah, noble lad Zabini has a great sense of smell, this incense was specially created for me by experts on the order of the emperor."

The concubines squirmed in jealousy. "It's called desire, and only I am allowed to use it in the palace," she finished with a superior smirk.  
Zabini seemed speechless, once again introducing the thick silence back into the gathering.

Harry resumed the conversation if only to divert the attention from the pale looking Malfoy. He looked sick with jealousy and genuine nausea.

"My knowledge is limited and has not seen as much as Consort Delacroix," Harry appeased carefully.

"As meimei (younger sister) came to serve the emperor later in his reign you wouldn't know, but when the emperor was a new emperor, he used the incense he inherited from his father as the base and had the experts create the incense for Consort Delacroix." Noble lady Parkinson was now firmly attached to the proverbial hip of the consort.

"That was a long time ago, why bring it up now?" The consort preened with false modesty.

"Yes, my apology, I have spoken too much," Parkinson smiled.

"There seems to be a lot of uncertainty and jealousy between the servants lately," the consort started once more. "If the servants misbehave, it reflects badly on their masters and mistresses. It means that their masters have been behaving improperly. I have heard that someone has been using their pregnancy to incite needless conflicts. I shall use this opportunity to clean up the palace."

Harry knew that this meeting was going to yield nothing good. He braced himself.

"Imperial concubine Malfoy, do you admit your crime?" She accused with a pinched face.

Harry saw the blond visually pale even more. None the less, he arose to hear her case.

"Today, all the concubines summoned by me came here to listen. You arrived late, disrespecting me. Hurry up and kneel before me!"

Harry flinched at her harsh tone.

The blond knelt with the help of a servant. "I admit my guilt, and ask for forgiveness."

The consort ignored him. "Today you disrespected those above you, I wonder how you'll act should you bear a son. Do you expect everyone to defer to you?"

Harry hurried to intervene. The blond was still kneeling, this was not good.

"Consort Delacroix, you've been speaking extensively so you must be thirsty, please drink some tea to rest your throat," Harry curtsied.

"Imperial Concubine Draco may be wrong, but please allow him to rise and talk."

"You've been disrespectful, thinking yourself to be clever, disobeying the rules and offending me. You shall kneel outside my palace."

Harry immediately knelt with urgency, trying to plead the blond's cause.

"Niang Niang, the sun is strong and the ground is hard. Imperial concubine is pregnant, he can't kneel there!"

Zabini knelt too, "Consort please forgive brother for the sake of his unborn child."

Harry started again, appealing to the love the consort had for the emperor, "Niang Niang punishing him is a small matter, but if it harms the child, the emperor, and the empress will surely punish you."

The consort ignored them, stating, "the rules aren't strict enough so I shall correct them. If the emperor and empress were here, it would also be this way."  
  
She turned flashing eyes towards Harry, "Unless you want to use the emperor and the empress to threaten me?"

"I wouldn't dare," Harry deferred.

He looked towards Malfoy to find him petrified. Harry wanted to cry. Damn his empathy.

For that matter, where's the bloody emperor when he'd needed?

"Consort Delacroix, please keep the emperor in mind," Harry tried once more.

"Imperial concubine, will you walk out there yourself?" She smiled sweetly, "or should I ask someone to give you a hand?"

Malfoy stayed rooted in place, shaking in fear.

The Consort glanced at her head eunuch, a hobbling man with a hateful disposition. He hobbled towards Malfoy with a cruel smile, "Imperial concubine Malfoy, this way please."

 

 

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

After Malfoy was ushered down the stairs to kneel on the hard ground, Harry didn't know what to do.

But Malfoy, it seems, had regained his wits, "Niang Niang, I admit my fault and accept your rebuke, however, I am pregnant, and cannot kneel for a long time. Please rethink your decision."

Now that was the regal Malfoy Harry knew.

The consort scoffed. "Do you think me foolish and gullible?" She clasped her fan in her hands and stared at Malfoy as if he was an undesirable bug under her shoe.

"You're doing well in your pregnancy, and has passed the first and second trimester. Your pregnancy has been stable for a while.  
I already consulted with the imperial healers, kneeling for two hours should not harm the child."

She looked to her hobbling head eunuch and he moved forward with his awkward gait to push Malfoy bodily down on his knees.

Harry moved forward before his mind could comprehend his actions. He fought with he eunuch but was pushed aside anyway.

He crawled towards Malfoy and put his arms around him to stabilize him.  
"The reason why I accept this punishment is because the Emperor put you in charge of supervising the inner palace while he is away, and I trust the emperor's judgment," Malfoy stated with a shaky but determined voice.

The consort threw down a book of palace etiquette and said,"read this to my satisfaction."

Harry moved forward to kneel before her,"Imperial Concubine Malfoy is pregnant. Please, he cannot take kneeling in the sun for too long."

"Does being pregnant mean you're absolved from the rules of the palace? I think you should be reminded of the rules too." She stopped and paused dramatically. "why don't you kneel beside him instead of pleading for him?"

Surprisingly, Malfoy spoke up. "Potter Changzai isn't intentionally asking for my forgiveness. Please don't involve him as well."

The consort smirked, "If I really wanted to involve him, what could you do? And are you two now close siblings who defend each other's honors?" She walked around calmly, flicking her fan in any which way.

"Fine then, Hold the book for him and have him recite it so you both can learn the rules properly," she said to Harry.

Harry stood up, knowing when to count his losses and moved over to Malfoy with the book in his hands.  
"I'll stay with you," he whispered to him.

The consort rolled her eyes at them and lifted her fan to shield her face from the heat, "oh it's so hot. Bring the concubines' chairs out here so they can all watch and see the consequences of defying me."  
The servants scrambled to obey.

The consort sauntered back to the shade of her veranda.

Malfoy turned his anxious eyes towards Harry and Harry tried to muster a reassuring expression to soothe him.

* * *

 

It has been roughly sixty minutes since Harry and Malfoy have been kneeling in the hot sun while reciting from the book of etiquette. Consort Delacroix was sitting in the shade of her veranda with a big pail of ice next to her to further cool her down.

Sitting beside her were the other concubines, all looking uncomfortable and anxious, even Pansy Parkinson was looking unsure of this new development.

Although Harry was suffering, he didn't notice it much. He was just horrified to see Malfoy was kneeling on the ground with the sun beating on his body, sweating profusely.

The consort dabbed her neck with a handkerchief while two servants fanned her.

"Even when it is two gorgeous concubines sweating the smell is still pungent. In short, go put the incense over there," she instructed.

The servants left the incense pot near the two concubines and went back to standing guard over the consort.

Harry and Malfoy started coughing at the same time. Harry's nostrils were filled with the cloying smell of the incense, overly sweet and strong. He ignored his discomfort and redirected the flow of the wind around them with his magic to get some reprieve from the pungent smell.

Malfoy had been diligent in reciting the rules, not even beeding the book. But as time went on, he seemed more tired and started speaking softly.

Of course, this annoyed the consort. "Somebody come, Hit him."

The concubines all shifted and looked at her strangely. She backtracked and huffed,"If we can't hit the one with the baby, hit the one without."

"Understood."  
Harry started at her callousness. He darted forward as the disabled eunuch shuffled his way with his twirling staff fitted with a flared cloth.

He clutched at Malfoy to protect his stomach and presented his back to the eunuch to hit.

Malfoy tried to get out of Harry's protective embrace, crying, "you can't hit him, he's sick!"

The blows took the breath from his lungs and Harry took several breaths to stabilize himself and to keep from fainting.

Hermione, who had left to find help from the empress dowager had returned and immediately went to Harry's side. "Young mistress be careful! Stop hitting him, he's not well!"

Harry looked up to find tears flowing down her eyes. He found that he was too angry and desperate to entertain the doing the same thing.

The eunuch must have hit Harry more than ten times before stopping.

"If you become lazy again, your dear sister will take the punishment in your place." The consort taunted primly from her shady veranda.

Malfoy swayed on his hands and knees. "Niang Niang, my body really isn't feeling well."

"Look at him everyone, he really is stupid. This pitiful act is so trite that everyone finds it annoying," she mocked.

Harry realized then that nobody was going to save them if he didn't act quickly. He then took a deep breath and started siphoning some of his magic directly to Malfoy.

He would most likely become very weak from this, but he didn't want to contemplate the results if he did nothing.

"Hermione, what did the dowager say?" He hoped she was sending help.

  
"I am sorry, young mistress. The eunuchs turned me away saying that the dowager's health was bad at the moment and shouldn't be disturbed. But I sent Ron to the neutral zone to bring the emperor back."

Harry cursed; that could take hours to a day. He felt weak already, feeling the child was sucking his magical reserves to prevent from taking from Malfoy's energy. But he couldn't do it for long.

He grew worried when the child got progressively aggressive in its intake of Harry's energy. Enough was enough.

"Somebody, come and help me! If you watch my brother suffer and harm comes to his child, you will have to answer to the emperor why you were complacent in the murder of his heir!" Harry was desperate and so very angry that his body shook.

"Not to mention the Ivory king! Do you not know that he is the uncle of Imperial concubine Malfoy? What will you say to the lord? That you feared for your life so you allowed death to claim his kin?"

Harry stood on shaking bones and glared at the gathered concubines and servants, purposely ignoring the stuttering consort spewing rubbish.

Blaise Zabini walked over timidly, progressively getting faster the closer he got to Malfoy. Harry and Zabini took hold of Malfoy's legs and hands, being careful to not jostle the child and walked out of the hall with Hermione trailing behind them.

Consort Delacroix stood in bewilderment, not believing that she'd been so rudely dismissed.

Her lead maid gasped and clutched at the consort's sleeve and frantically exclaimed,"Niang Niang, it looks like there's blood on the floor!" She was gesturing with a fan to the ground where a crimson stain glared back at the gathered audience.

The consort gasped in disbelief and collapsed back into her chair with bulging eyes."How can this be? Wasn't it just an hour?" She whispered in despair. "How can there be blood?"

* * *

  
Meanwhile, outside Harry barked orders for the eunuchs to provide a palanquin and asked for the imperial healers to be alerted straight away.

It was a small blessing that Malfoy's palace was close to the emperor's and thus not a long walk from the consort's residence.

Harry ushered the healers inside, informing them of the time Malfoy spent under the sun and the incense he inhaled. He was asked to step aside for the healers to work on Malfoy, and Harry obliged with worried eyes.

* * *

 

Inside Consort Delacroix's residence, the air could be cut with a knife. The lead maid named Lynn was fanning her mistress with reverent fear etched in her movements. Pansy Parkinson was standing in front of the consort with an uneasy face, trying to gauge her mood.

"He must be a fool!" The consort exclaimed into the silence, her tassels flying in her anger. "Why didn't he inform me if he wasn't feeling well?"

"Imperial concubine Malfoy repeatedly complained about it," Noble lady Parkinson said timidly. The consort turned her head to look at her jerkily.

"How was I supposed to know if it was real or not!" The anger in her voice was now mixed with fear. she continued,"He's so good at faking things. How could he? He was eight months pregnant right? his carriage should be stable enough."

She gasped,"How could he bleed after just one hour of kneeling?"

Noble lady Parkinson refrained from commenting.

"Blood! That blood. There was blood on the floor. Just like there was when I lost my baby back then." The despair was now palpable in the consort's voice.

"Niang Niang, It doesn't matter if the healer said it was ok to kneel for an hour, you can't do that for real! There's always an exception to the rule."

The consort turned her anguished eyes to glare at the Noble lady. She flew from her chair towards her speedily yelling, "Why didn't you say it back then?" She pushed Parkinson to the ground. "What's the use of telling me now?"

"Niang Niang spare me!" The noble lady cried.

"Niang Niang, please be mindful of your health," Leading maid Lynn stated soothingly.

The disabled eunuch limped his way speedily towards the consort and went down on his hands and knees saying fearfully, "Niang Niang, The emperor, the kings and the empress are outside of the main gate."

The consort fell back into her servant girl's arms in shock whispering, "this quick?"

She turned to the eunuch and asked urgently, "Any news from the house of Glorious Dreams(Malfoy's residence)?" He shook his head in negative.

"What about the child? Any news?"  
"The Healers are still in the process of examining him, there's no update."

The consort walked wobbly towards her seat.

"Noble Lady, Niang Niang didn't mean to give you a hard time. Madam was just shocked, please think of a way to help her out," Lynn pleaded.

Noble Lady Parkinson stepped forward, "whether Imperial Concubine has a miscarriage or not, The royal family must have already heard before coming to the palace, therefore for the sake of safety perhaps Niang Niang should apologize."

The consort held her head high," why should I apologize? I did nothing wrong at all!"

"Niang Niang does it really matter? The Emperor's opinion is the only thing that matters. It's an offer of apology rather than an admittance of guilt. Please do it for the sake of calming down the emperor."

"I did nothing wrong," The consort reiterated with unshed tears in her eyes. "The emperor will find out the truth sooner or later."

"Right," the Noble Lady agreed, "but looking at Imperial Concubine's condition right now, perhaps the emperor will only be concerned with identifying the one who caused the incident." She paused to look at the dawning understanding in the Consort's eyes.

"Huangsha (Emperor/his majesty) will surely get angry whether Imperial Concubine miscarriages or not." She looked up at the now sniffling Consort and said softly, "Niang Niang must apologize to continue to gain the emperor's trust."

The Consort pursed her lips in a tight line and sighed shakily.


	10. Chapter 10

Malfoy was in labor.

The blond's palace is chaotic with screams, moans, and fluttering servants. The female healers are screaming orders for the servant girls to fetch more hot water and towels.

The blood-soaked towels and water which has been replaced countless of times told a grim story of what was happening inside.

Harry was in the common room where Malfoy entertained guests. He was sitting with his back straight against the chair, trying to remain calm to send soothing pheromones to the emperor while absorbing some of the anxiety from Malfoy.

Truthfully, he was drained from already giving the baby his energy earlier in the afternoon. It has been more than five hours since Malfoy's water broke and Harry has been draining his pain for a while.

While it may not have been such a tasking task had he been healthy, in his current situation, every emotion that was in the room was too much, making him feel dizzy and exhausted. The concubines sitting in neat rows a few steps from Harry were all sitting in silence, no doubt worrying about their complacent role in today's events.

There was no doubt that they would be punished, but depending on the outcome of the labor, their punishment could change severely.

"Why is it taking so long for them to get back to us? For events like this is why I hired such a world-renowned staff, If they cannot do their job, then what good are they to me?" The emperor stood up abruptly to pace around the room in his golden robes with majestic dragons curling around the silk robe.

The Kings were sitting together with tense shoulders. Lucius especially, was staring at a far off place with a menacing growl on his lips, face carefully controlled into an expression of rage while still remain regal.

Harry tried during the tense five hours of waiting to direct most of his attention to Malfoy and a bit towards the emperor. He couldn't alleviate the rage emitting from the Ivory King because that would truly destroy the last of his energy reserves.

Hermione, who was standing behind her mistress looked on helplessly, not knowing what he was doing but sensing instinctively that it was detrimental to his health.

Over the almost two years that she'd been his lead maidservant, she'd seen him in various scenes of distress, but this was something different entirely.

There were sweat beads on his forehead and eyebrows, his already fair skin was even paler. She could see his hands were trembling slightly in their folded position on his lap.

"Your majesty, the Royal healer is asking for your presence," the emperor's eunuch timidly informed the monarch.

Harry took his attention from the Malfoy's bedroom door to the pacing Alpha.

The Emperor was not allowed to the birthing room under any circumstances unless the mother would not survive.

Harry stood involuntarily, there was no way he could allow that to happen. He'd used up almost all his energy to keep Malfoy alive during this nightmare.

He would not let that be in vain.

As much as he would love for the consort to be in hot water for her stupidity, he didn't want that to happen at the expense of Malfoy's life.

"Your majesty," Harry blurted out in a rush, trying to stop him from stepping a foot inside the bedroom to give his consent for them to administer a gentle poison to shorten the blond's life.  
"Your majesty, let me go, give me one more hour, I can encourage him. Please," Harry pleaded while down in a deep curtsy.

Despite his trembling voice and limbs, his green eyes were glowing with determination. Seeing his normally soft-spoken concubine ask him for anything was jarring, however seeing his omegan eyes and determination persuaded the monarch.

He inclined his head towards the brunette, giving his eunuch a harsh glare when he made as to protest.

The gathered concubines and the empress were all confused and a bit indignant that such a low-ranking concubine was allowed to assist in a royal birth, even if it was just him encouraging the mother. Of course, they didn't know what Harry was so their confusion was warranted.

Hermione helped her mistress rise slowly from his curtsy; he'd gotten stuck due to his lack of energy.  
She guided him slowly towards the bedroom door with careful steps, noting her mistress' clenched teeth.

Once at the door, Hermione released him and waited patiently for him to enter. Harry smiled wanly at her and entered the bedroom chambers.

If Harry had described the common room as chaotic due to the influx of maids, healers, eunuchs and concubines, then Malfoy's bedroom was in the middle of a maelstrom.

Harry has never been in the presence of so many healers and servant girls. The obnoxious white uniforms of the healers grated on his nerves as the potent red color of the blood decorating them stood out loudly as a taunt.

Whoever thought it wise for healers to wear white robes as their uniform, considering their job description was clearly uncaring of the practicality of such a decision.

Moving away from the tangents his mind was taking due to his fatigue, he gathered his last energy reserves and made his way towards Malfoy's head.

Although Harry had been annoyed by him numerous times and have been disparaged and insulted by him, he still liked the blond concubine. He could feel some of his pain, and knew that what Malfoy needed was just a little bit of encouragement from a familiar face and not orders from stressed healers.

"M-Draco, listen to me," Harry whispered softly, stroking the platinum blond hair and wiping some of the sweat from his forehead with a damp cloth. The laboring concubine groaned in attention.

Harry shushed him and directed the last of his energy slowly towards the blond. "I'm right here Draco, I promise. Now I need you to push very hard every time you feel an urge ok?" The blonde opened his blurry eyes, revealing exhausted graphite irises.

He took his tired arms from the two long white strip of cloth from attached to the bed for him to hold on to. Instead, he blindly searched for Harry's hand, clutching it with a surprising amount of strength before taking a deep breath to steel himself.

He nodded at Harry, clenching his teeth to stop the whimper at the back of his throat when he felt a contraction coming.

Harry knew he was in excruciating pain because he was draining some of the pain. Beta males, that is, non-omega males were not made for childbirth and their tolerance for pain was bad at best. This might be why using a temporary womb was only encouraged when wizards couldn't find a surrogate to carry the child for them.

Clearing his head and focusing on the blond on the bed, Harry tried to be a reassuring presence because he couldn't do anything else; all his energy was gone.

Malfoy gripped Harry's hand and pushed with a heart-wrenching yell, falling back on the bed with a groan., shivering and whimpering softly. Harry could feel that the next few minutes would decide the fate of many people. He held Malfoy for a few seconds, allowing him to catch his breath, then he persuaded him up from his slump on the bed.

"This is the final push Draco, I can see the head, come on, you can do it. This is the last one, then you can rest." Harry looked at the Royal Healer for confirmation of what he'd said. when he received a nod, he looked back to Malfoy with an excited smile curling on his lips and once again took hold of the blond's hand.

"On the count of three Draco, come on," Harry held his breath, watching as the blond hunched his back and grunted with every last energy from both of them to push out a screeching, scaly being the size of a flour bag.

Harry almost forgot to breathe for a minute, so fascinated by this being who has exhausted him and yet made him so happy.

He diverted his attention from the baby being cleaned to Malfoy.  
The blond was slumped on his bed, breathing harshly with tears falling freely from his gray eyes.

The Healer made as to put the child in a bassinet before going to inform the Emperor but Harry stopped her, instead instructing them to give the child to Draco.

Harry helped him sit up with his back cushioned on the pillow, watching as Draco held his baby close to his chest.  
"It's a boy, Pot-Harry, it's a boy!" He exclaimed excitedly, "It's a prince."

"Indeed," Harry assured. "Welcome to the world little prince. May peace and prosperity be your destiny," He blessed the child with a fond look in his green eyes.

He tried very hard not to touch the child, allowing Draco to bond with him. With the amount of energy he has given to the child, if he tried to touch him this early on, it will think that Harry was its mother.

He rose from the side of the bed when the Emperor and his kings entered. They were clearly overjoyed, faces glowing and smiling genuinely for the first time.

Harry averted his eyes mainly because he didn't like how his heart jumped at attention in their presence, and also because he knew that deep down, he felt slightly jealous.

He tried to make himself scarce amidst the commotion, but his escape was interrupted by Malfoy.

"Harry," he stated softly but firmly, "Thank you for this." Harry turned to look at him with scrutiny. Draco didn't know the half of it, but Harry nodded and smiled all the same.

Harry knelt down slowly but gracefully,"Congratulations your majesty and my lords, heaven has looked favorably upon you for you have been blessed with a prince."

Hermione wasn't allowed inside the birth chamber, so Harry had no help when getting up. In his already exhausted state, his balance faltered, leading to him almost falling. The Onyx lord caught him at his slender waist just in time to prevent his fall.

Harry blushed, embarrassed. "Thank you, my Lord. I apologize, I shall head to my palace, I'm afraid I'm not feeling well."

The onyx king made as to say something, but the baby prince cooed, and all thought of Harry disappeared from his mind. The king nodded absent-mindedly before hastily making his way to the bed to join his lovers.

Harry frowned at being so easily forgotten. Just before he could wallow in his dark mood fueled by exhaustion and pain, he reminded himself that this was his original goal.

This way, there will be no more Alphas digging their noses into his mind or any other events that have occurred due to his gender.

He exited the chamber cautiously, being careful not to extend his arms too far and slouching just a tad to relieve some of the pain radiating from his back from the whipping earlier on today.

When he entered the waiting room, he saw that all the concubines were still assembled, waiting to be invited inside after the emperor and his lovers has seen the child.

The empress had a pensive expression on her face when she saw Harry's visage, and whether it was worry or otherwise, escaped Harry as he was too tired to dissect the mind games being played tonight.

Hermione rushed to his side, immediately picking up his arm to lead him while supporting his frame a bit so he didn't appear quite as weak as he truly felt.

With the help of Hermione, Harry curtsied in front of the empress, then without further ado, he made way back to his palace.

As they exited Malfoy's residence, Harry was confronted with Consort Delacroix and his lead servant. They were prostrating on the ground, presumably waiting for the emperor.

When the consort saw Harry, she became alert, "What happened? Is the child alive?" Harry hesitated in answering her, just to see how she'll react. She took a small chunk of his robes in her hands and gripped it tightly, asking desperately, "What about Imperial concubine Draco?"

Harry watched the normally regal consort shake with fear and marveled at the utter depravity that was palace life. He knew very well that she wasn't remotely sorry for any of the events that transpired today. When he looked at her emotions, he could tell that she was indeed afraid, but her fear was of losing the emperor's love if Draco dies rather than of Draco losing his life.

Harry sighed and took hold of her hand gently and removed his robe from her fist. He was frankly so fed up with the palace. Especially today, he has seen what jealousy and boredom do to people. He did not want that to be him, he never wants to remotely resemble the pathetic creature beneath his feet.

"He is alive, and the child is well. You should thank the heavens for their favor, for although you shall be punished, it will be much less severe than your outcome should the Imperial Concubine had come to harm. Goodnight and good luck Niangniang."

Harry walked away feeling morose for the upcoming events that would undoubtedly change the atmosphere and pace of the forbidden city.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, guys. I'm sorry for the delayed update but School and life once again have been playing soccer with my time. Evidently I won this round, but I may be a bit late on he next update as well. So this is a fair warning. Anyways, on to the story. Also, thank you guys so much for your comments and well wishes. They have truly helped and encouraged me.
> 
> ~Vee

* * *

 

Harry went Home and collapsed on his bed immediately.

He felt the exhaustion of the day all at once. He felt the pain of the whippings stinging at his back, and the magical exhaustion like a cut of limb.

Whimpering and moaning quietly against his pillow, he tried so hard to maintain the facade of serenity that he's so known for but couldn't quite hold it. Hermione was at his side, actually crying because Harry himself refused to do so.

She had a cold towel pressed gently to his forehead to relief the fever that has overtaken him and he tried to smile at her reassuringly. It didn't work. Not that He thought it would. He knew that if she looked and felt as bad as he did, he would not be reassured by a forced smile either.

He knew that if she looked and felt as bad as he did, he would not be reassured by a forced smile either.

Regardless, Harry has been fighting with her on his decision to not call the royal healers to deal with his physical ailments. They had just gotten back from Draco's residence, and the royal family was celebrating, it would be in bad taste to spoil their mood with his reoccurring illness, even if this time it was caused by an outside perpetrator.

In the end, they made a compromise in which Hermione and Ron would tend to him for two hours, and then call for one royal healer.

Hermione hesitated but seeing the stubborn look in her mistress' eyes persuaded her. She sighed and went about bringing in cold water and more towels from outside with Ron.

Ronald, or Ron, as he's known by all the servants, was a gangly teen three years older than Harry, and two years older than Hermione. He was Harry's main Eunuch, and though he wasn't the sharpest eunuch in the palace, he was very loyal and capable.

All the times when Harry needed to escape a sticky situation and needed an excuse, the red-headed servant always had an idea. Harry also loved his silly jokes and puns. His attempts to brighten Harry's mood endeared him to Harry, although sometimes annoyed Hermione; she thought Harry already acted way too personal and needed to be more 'regal.'

As was mentioned earlier, Harry was being taken cared of by his two servants, and though they have done a spectacular job with lowering his fever, it was still pretty high. Harry suspected that his naturally high body temperature added to that, but was unable to share his thoughts presently due to the pain he was in.

As time ticked on and on, He finally relented and sent Ron to the get one royal healer, giving him instructions to be discreet if he could help it. Ron knew that was Harry speak for "make sure the emperor doesn't know."

He did find a healer quite quickly as they were still around the palace of Glorious Dreams (Malfoy's residence).

He led the healer quickly to Harry's residence and directed him to the room where Harry was residing.

Ron stopped at the doors, "Young Mistress, the healer is here," he announced.

The healer hastily went inside the room. He started asking Hermione different questions such as" how long he's been like this", "what occurred to put him in this state" and etc.

Harry at this time was slightly delirious, going in and out of conscious with no ability to keep track of the time.

He did manage to caution Hermione not to alarm the emperor needlessly, though.

His servant had sighed heavily with a fond smile on her lips at his stubborn nature. Harry was glad, he never liked it when women cried. Even as a child he always felt so lost when his mother or sisters cried around him.

With his mind on such tangents, he slowly sank into a dark and inviting darkness.

Harry woke up to soft sunlight filtering on the edge of his bed. His eyelids felt very heavy and his mouth smelt and tasted like death. He scrunched his face at the ghastly taste and immediately opened his eyes.

He woke up to Hermione sleeping with her head next to his bed, sitting on a stool near him. After a few seconds, he saw Ron also on guard. He was nodding off slowly, only to awaken again, frantically looking out for threats, then relaxing again. This continued for the five minutes that Harry watched him.

Harry laughed softly, amused. It came out like little whispers of air instead of his bell like laughter due to his dry throat. But it was enough to awaken Hermione from her nap.

She shot up from her seat enthusiastically, visibly relieved to see him up. "My lady, it is so good to see you awake. You have been sleeping for four days!"

Harry could believe that. His back was still paining him, and he could feel the pumps formed from the whip marks. His body ached and pulled at places that were foreign to him, but the sharp pain he felt the day of the whipping was dull.

He smiled soothingly at Hermione and made a gesture for her to help prop him up .

She complied with a trembling smile as she shouted for Ron to wake up.

Harry laughed a controlled chuckle when the eunuch sprung up and immediately became alert, looking out for nonexistent threats.  
Hermione rolled her eyes, exasperated.

Harry gritted his teeth when he felt his back drag gainst the coverings. His eyes watered and he sucked in a harsh breath to stop the tears.

he signaled his hand for Hermione to stop for a moment. He breathed slowly for a few seconds before giving her a nod to continue.

Hermione directed Ron to heat up the medicine she'd boiled an hour ago while she slowly began helping her mistress up once again.

The eunuch heeded her command with a slightly disgruntled face from being bossed around by someone his junior.But seeing that his mistress was awake, he woke up fully, hurrying to his task.

After she'd helped him up, Ron brought the medicine to Hermione, and she carefully administered the bitter tonic to her mistress, pacing how many sips he took.

Harry obediently drank the medicine with a slight grimace at the taste, allowing Hermione to wipe his mouth with a silk handkerchief without fussing.

Harry requested mint leaves to rid his mouth of the unsavory taste that had accumulated after four days of inactivity, feeling slightly self-conscious.

Afterward, the royal healer was summoned to clean and redress Harry's wounds on his back. Unsurprisingly, the whips had dug into his skin and broke it in some places of his back; no wonder his robes had small droppings of blood on the back of the garment.

He'd thought the bumps were just from the bruising.

The healer was very thorough and quick. Being very careful not to him pain needlessly.

Harry bore all his ministrations stoically. After the healer left, Harry requested for Hermione to report what had occurred after he's fallen unconscious. He wanted to know what he'd missed.

Hermione initially hesitated but eventually revealed that the emperor and his lovers did indeed visit Harry the first day a few hours after the Royal healer was summoned. She also divulged that they'd been present to hear Harry's delirious ramblings. Surprisingly he had been mumbling about treacle tart and Sirius being stingy by eating it all.

Harry blushed at that piece of information. Of all the things he could be dreaming about. Then again, he comforted himself, it could have been worse. He could have been dreaming about the Emperor himself.

Unto more sobering thoughts, the Consort Delacroix was punished with a month of reflection, which excluded visitors and had her salary reduced by half. She was to spend the month reading all twelve books on palace etiquette(of which she'd forced Malfoy to recite the first volume).

Harry did not think that was a suitable punishment at all, but he also knew that the emperor had his reasons for her light punishment. For one, the consort's father was the head commander of the french wizarding army, a powerful ally who has been aiding the emperor in some of his foreign endeavors. And another, being too severe to a consort of noble descent who's been serving him for so long will prompt people to call him cruel or unfeeling.

But Harry also knew that regardless of her political backing, the life of his heir was also very important. He didn't doubt that he had a much worse punishment in mind for her further down the line.

After getting all the dry information about who has been quarreling with who and other dull details of palace life, Harry finally caved and enquired about the new addition to the royal family.

He'd been very careful not to seem overly enthusiastic about the news of the baby to maintain his aloof persona, but Hermione, his ever clever servant read him more clearly than a book.

She animatedly described the prince's first few days in the world and then updated Harry on the parentage of the child. He was a Snape through and through.  
Harry was slightly surprised; He'd been betting on the older Malfoy being the father. The black haired omega pouted and reached beneath his pillow case to present two silver ingots to his servant; she bet on the Onyx lord and Harry had bet on the Ivory lord.

"Thank you Niangniang." Hermione pocketed the money. Harry looked at her in shocked silence. She'd never referred to him as such before.

She seemed to realize her slip of the tongue and blushed bashfully, explaining, "I think you truly deserve the title now more than ever. You will always be my mistress, however, you are no more the young mistress who entered the palace almost two years ago."

Harry smiled sadly at her, taking her right hand to grip as he thought about her reasoning. It is quite true that time flies. However, Harry doesn't think that in all of that time he's been in the palace that he'd been having fun. His days are filled with waiting for the emperor, reading books, being the perfect concubine-trying not to die.

He thought of his little brother who had bravely proclaimed that he would grow up to marry Harry so that he wouldn't have to leave and almost cried. His little body had stretched to maximum height, puffing out his chest and smiling radiantly at his older brother like promises were fulfilled through will alone.

Indeed, the time of childhood was passing.

"Niangniang," He tried it on his tongue, tasting, and testing it. It wasn't sweet, nor was it bitter. It tasted fine and sounded calm. It tasted like experience, and Harry accepted it.

He gripped her hand once more, then released it gently. He requested a bath and food, he was ravenous. Hermione blushed, mortified that she'd forgotten to serve him breakfast.

She scurried to prepare the bath and heat up the meal she'd cooked in preparation to his awakening.

Harry looked on with a gentle smile and tried not to miss his magic too much. He knew it was still there, but it wasn't as energetic as it could be. It just laid dormant, tucked into his core.

He knew it was recuperating, but it felt as though he was walking without one leg. It was a disorientating experience and he was glad that it would only last a few weeks.

Hermione came back towards him with Ron in tow. They collectively set to work, trying to get him up from the bed as painlessly as they could manage.

Harry was jostled slightly due to the height difference of his servants, but ultimately the process went much smoother than he'd expected.

Ron stopped at the bathing area and went back outside. Hermione began washing him, and this time, Harry had no energy to argue with her about independence.

He closed his eyes and had a weird nap in which he was fully aware of his surroundings. He could feel the warm water on his skin, smell the soothing vanilla flowers floating casually in the water, and feel Hermione's nubile hands working through his tangled mess of waves as she tried to detangle them.

Harry smiled, knowing that Hermione was fighting a losing battle. One which she seems pretty intent on winning one of this days-it's true- she's been fighting both her curls and Harry's waves since he entered the palace.  
She always resorts to stretching his hair by braiding it before combing out the pattern left by the braids-the same process she does with her own hair. 

Although she omits the last part of the process for her own hair. Curls and fine tooth combs do not mix.

While Harry was thinking about Hair, Hermione had finally gotten the last of the tangles out of his hair and was gently coaxing him up from the bath tub. 

She turned him around careful not to let his back touch the water as it had been newly redressed.

She led him slowly back to his bed to lay down, noting the small beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

He gratefully laid on the bed, half propped up on the pillow and ate the freshly warmed bird's nest soup.

Four days ago had been a hectic and painful day. But while today had some old aches, it was spent in the company of friends.

He smiled into his soup; today had been a good day.

 


	12. NOT AN UPDATE. STORY ABANDONED

Sorry Guys, but I've decided to discontinue this story. If anyone wants to continue it go ahead however I'm getting off the internet for good. Fanfiction has overtaken my life. Once again, sorry.


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